Companies at risk from instant messaging abuse

The majority of global businesses have still not implemented management systems to protect against the potentially serious legal, security and compliance risks associated with employee use of instant messaging (IM).

According to a newly published poll of nearly 300 companies, 60 per cent of respondents stated that they do not have any measures in place to manage employee IM use.

In addition, 38 per cent of those polled by Akonix Systems and The ePolicy Institute have not yet rolled out a formal IM usage policy in their organisation. Even among companies that have a policy in place, 21 per cent reported that employees openly flout company guidelines.

The study warned that the results indicate that many businesses are still vulnerable to the legal, security and compliance implications of unmanaged IM use.

"The easiest way for companies to approach IM is to follow the three Es: Establish a written policy, Educate employees and Enforce policies with technology solutions," said Nancy Flynn, founder of The ePolicy Institute.

"IM is a great tool for real-time communications, but organisations must be made aware of its risks when unmanaged, such as breaches of compliance regulations, corporate legal liability for employee misconduct, security threats and lost worker productivity."