IT security and control firm Sophos has revealed the results of
a new survey examining the potential productivity implications for
businesses that allow their employees to access Facebook during
office hours.
Sophos polled 500 Facebook users to find out how often they
accessed or checked the popular social networking site from work,
and found that while 37.2 percent only visited the site once or
twice a day, eight percent admitted using it up to ten times a day,
and an astonishing 14.8 percent, approximately one in seven,
confessed to being logged onto Facebook almost permanently during
their working day.
How often do you access or check Facebook from
work?
|
| Once or twice a
day |
|
|
| Up to ten times a
day |
|
|
| Virtually all the
time! |
|
|
| I only access Facebook
from home, never at work |
|
|
Sophos online survey, 500 respondents, September and
October 2007.
"The results show that more than one fifth of these Facebook
users are actually Facebook abusers. They're seriously struggling
to tear themselves away from the website when they should be
concentrating on their jobs - disturbing news for all organizations
that are still allowing employees uncontrolled access," said
Graham Cluley,
senior technology consultant at Sophos. "Several trade unions have
spoken out in the site's defense, suggesting that employers should
put more trust in their workforce, and clearly the majority of
people are using the site in moderation. The problem is that a 20
percent addiction rate equates to an awful lot of loafing, while
there's also the likelihood that the abusers could ruin it for the
other rule-abiding users."
According to Sophos, the survey results add weight to growing
fears that sites such as Facebook are having a hugely detrimental
impact on business productivity. Employment law firm Peninsula
recently estimated that 233 million hours are lost every month in
the UK alone as a result of employees using social networking
sites. Sophos notes that Lloyds TSB, Credit Suisse and Goldman
Sachs are amongst the organizations that have been reported
to have already blocked access to Facebook for their users.
"So far there seems to have been a furore at every organisation
that has decided to block Facebook access, but there's a real
danger that if companies don't take action, this problem could
spiral further out of control," continued Cluley. "Many companies
are now aware that Facebook brings with it a series of security
concerns, particularly the risk of employees inadvertently
revealing sensitive or confidential information to the wider world.
When combined with the threat of an accompanying productivity
slump, they may well decide that social-networking at work is
simply more trouble than it's worth."
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Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can control network access and defend
against the threats of spam, hackers, spyware and viruses.
Disclaimer: Please bear in mind that this poll is not
scientific and is provided for information purposes only. Sophos
makes no guarantees about the accuracy of the results other than
that they reflect the choices of the users who participated.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.