Employers slack on Web 2.0 security

Businesses must work harder to increase Web 2.0 security

Organisations should do more to police their employee’s use of social networking sites and instant messaging (IM) applications, according to recent research conducted by FaceTime Communications, a Web 2.0 security firm.

The research shows that some employers have not set adequate policy enforcement tools for forbidding social networking sites and are not providing the right anti-virus protection to deal with common IM malware threats.

“Enabling IM and other types of Web 2.0 communication can bring great benefits to companies, but IT departments need to consider the risks involved and make sure that security, policy control and compliance are introduced as standard best practice,” said Nick Sears, FaceTime Communications vice president.

200 individuals responded to the survey questions. Nearly three quarters of the respondents could access social networking sites at work, but only two thirds said their employer’s policy allowed them to do so.

Nearly 16 per cent of respondents said they had clicked on a link within an IM that had turned out to be malware and 42 per cent of the time their current anti-virus protection did not catch it.

77 per cent of those surveyed said they could access IM applications at work with a third of respondents admitting to sending an IM to the wrong person.