Walking the Fine Line between Network Monitoring and Freedom
We have embraced social networking sites so much that they have become a part of our everyday life. For most of us, checking our Twitter account, reading emails and following our friends’ updates on Facebook have become a daily routine.
There are very few situations when we cannot go online to check Facebook, Twitter, or Google+. For the average worker, the workplace should not be one of them.
All Cards on the table
In this piece, I’ve challenged myself to outline the most pressing issues regarding blocking of social media sites in the workplace and to figure out how to address them.
Let me start with the major issues raised by companies that insist on blocking social networking sites:
- “Employees are less productive.” Most organizations give this as the main reason why they block social networking sites in the workplace. However, other argue that there are many other sites that employees visit that contribute to lower levels of productivity and cyberslacking.
- “Bandwidth is hogged unnecessarily.” Businesses claim that accessing social media sites (and accessing other media, such as streaming video) is hogging most of the company’s bandwidth – this has a negative impact on resources and systems.
- “Most people are not aware of the dangers lurking in those sites.” This is not only a concern with regard to the security of systems in an internal network but it can also affect the employee’s personal security. Unless an individual knows what steps to take and how to protect himself/herself online, they risk being scammed and their machine being infected with malware and other nasty web threats.
While employers point out the reasons why the need to block social networking sites, their employees are concerned that it could impact their work and their ability to communicate with others:
- “There is no way I’ll be able to talk to friends and online colleagues. What if there’s a problem I can’t solve by myself? Who can I turn to?” Internet users often turn to social media sites for help and advice on issues that are related to their work, especially during critical and urgent times. Most users attest to the quick response of their online colleagues and peers whenever they do this.
- “I’m afraid my morale will be compromised.” Employees turn to social sites to “keep themselves sane”. Taking a break from time to time to family and friends, helps them unwind and relax.
- “It doesn’t make sense if we do part of our marketing on Facebook and yet Facebook is blocked?” True, but unless you’re solely responsible for marketing your company online, this argument shouldn’t be used as a reason.
- “They’re doing this because they don’t trust us!” This is probably the primary concern for many employees who feel that policies are implemented in the workplace because they are not trusted.
A high wire act
It is not always easy to strike a balance between blocking social sites in the workplace and giving uncontrolled internet freedom to employees. However, there are some steps an organization can take:
- Monitor employees’ internet usage. Businesses have every right to know how their resources are used and why they’re used by their employees. It’s not a question of not trusting employees; a business is simply looking after its own interests.
- Restrict access to certain sites during work hours. Most employees go beyond the eight-hour work grind. Cutting access to bandwidth-hungry social media sites during peak work periods and then restoring access during slower periods or during breaks is a fair compromise.
- Allow certain employees access to the business’s profile on social sites. This is a good policy to implement for marketing and PR teams, which are directly involved in product pitching and selling of business products and services.
- Educate and keep employees up to date with the latest threats on social sites. While it is true that most people learn from experience, prevention is still better than cure.
About the Author: Jovi Umawing
Jovi Umawing is Communications and Research Analyst at GFI Software. With 10 years in the antivirus industry under her belt, this decorated technical documenter has written research papers, whitepapers, and various threat reports geared towards enterprise and consumer clients. Jovi has also written for eSecurity Planet and is now a regular contributor to the GFI Labs Blog.
This is definitely a hard balance to strike, particularly in larger corporations. While companies certainly have a right to monitor internet usage (and there are plenty of valuable security-related reasons to do so) I think many employees would be less likely to attempt to visit social networks if they knew they were being watched. Not for any other reason than that people have already heard all the stories of getting terminated over things on their blog, facebook, or twitter, and I know a lot of people personally who try and keep their personal lives and their work lives as divided from each other as possible. There’s no catch-all solution to this problem, you just have to find what works the best for your management, your workforce, and your business size. A custom-fit resolution will seem the most liberal and considerate most times.
At present, freedom has a different meaning than what it used to have. It’s not Long Live the Free World anymore. For this reason, it’s not subjective to put into context the current meaning of freedom to network monitoring or limiting access to the Internet. We have to lose some to get some.
Absolutely agree with you column. Well done a good balance from both the employer and employee viewpoint.
Monitoring Internet access does not necessarily mean that the company does not trust its employees. I’ve been managing a group of people for almost 10 years now and this is one of the most sensitive issues I’ve dealt with.
All managers should explain to all their employees firsthand that limiting or controlling the Internet is a must for the organization. I for myself have formulated several win-win solutions in order for this system to work. One instance has something to do with Facebook. Four years ago the said social media was not yet dubbed as a “productivity killer”. In fact,most of us here in the office have used it as an email alternative. But at present, Facebook is on top of my “block access” list.
If it is agreed not to use Facebook, Twitter and the like for business, I don’t see a problem here – use your own personal devices to do your own personal job on Facebook. If the use of personal devices were blocked, then this would be an issue. Where’s the problem?
The problem with using your own personal devices at work is that you are still AT WORK….to use those devices, more than likely you are using the company’s wireless or wired connectivity and are still vulnerable to attacks…even if its attacks on your own devices, you could blame the company….so they must protect themselves.