Nearly 85 percent of the 143 Australian companies surveyed by software vendor Websense thought employees were spending too much time on the Internet while at work. Productivity, bandwidth costs and security concerns were cited as issues of concern for these organisations.
Graham Pearson, regional manager at Websense Australia, said that in Australia the cost of bandwidth from non work-related Web surfing was a concern for companies.
Sports and hobby sites topped the list of those most visited.
Pearson believed that CIOs and IT departments should compile Internet policies that reflect a company's attitude towards acceptable use of the Internet in that workplace. "You really have to get involved with the management, human resources and employees [and decide] what is deemed acceptable and simply unacceptable."
The potential security problem associated with allowing employees to access Web-based e-mail was another area which Pearson highlighted. "They are creating another avenue for a virus to enter into their organisation," he warned.
The Australian Web@Work Survey--which garnered the views of technology professionals responsible for managing corporate Internet traffic in the organisations--found that almost 20 percent of respondents had terminated employees for inappropriate Internet use. It also found that two out of three respondents had reprimanded or disciplined employees for the same reason.
Websense plans to carry out another survey later this year and Pearson hopes they will be able to run one every six months.
3%
2%
