A wise manager will not criticize productive employees who spend a few minutes on their social networking site or reading Yahoo news, for example. Yet, managers are also duty bound to stop those who are abusing the system (internet access is not an employee right) for the company’s sake and the good of those who work hard.

Another point I would like to make is that monitoring is not limited to checking who is browsing the internet. Web monitoring and filtering is key to preventing malware from being downloaded and infecting the network. It only takes one employee to visit a poisoned website. It also only takes one employ to visit an inappropriate website.

What we often forget is that we are living in a society that is becoming increasingly litigious. Businesses are sued and dragged before the courts for even the most absurd of reasons, and yet businesses cannot afford to be caught napping. Web monitoring and web filtering give business owners the ammunition they need to counter any claims from clients or employees. In an employment dispute, for example, you may need web browsing reports on an employee who is suing for unfair dismissal. If you can prove that he or she spent excessive time on the internet or accessed inappropriate sites instead of working, you’ve won the case. Without that evidence, you have a very weak hand. It is also management’s fiduciary responsibility to have the data for when it is needed.

The risks are too high for businesses today. It is not a case of ‘big brother’ but rather one of ‘keeping alert’ and being ‘prepared’.