Businesses are restricting access to social networking sites to avoid exposure to malicious attacks and information leaks.
The Collaboration and Security survey conducted by Integ at the AusCERT 2009 conference found 76 percent of respondents believed allowing access to external social networking applications increased the company’s vulnerability to security threats, with 64 percent of companies blocking access to some or all sites.
The survey also found 79 percent of organsations provided employees with tools including instant messaging and blogging for internal collaboration.
Ian Poole, CEO of Integ, said companies are recognising the value of employees using social tools to share information. However, the majority of organisations keep these social tools within the company’s networks due to the security risks associated with them.
The survey also found businesses are blocking social tools depending on whether the purpose was considered social, business or “essential”.
The survey found that companies more frequently blocked sites such as Facebook and Hotmail which tend to be perceived as more social and a greater security risk.
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