The Daily Filter

Starting on December 19 and running through January 7, 2010 the first of 34 college bowl games will be played. Even though a majority of these games will take place at night and on the weekends, a quick scan of the internet already shows a buzz on the message boards for those coming out in support of their favorite teams. Some fans will be purchasing tickets and making travel arrangements, while others will be filling out the legendary “bowl brackets”. Many times these distractions take place online while at work. It can be hard enough to keep employees focused this time of year with Christmas season in full swing and New Years Eve is right around the corner. Now we have to contend with bowl picks and bragging rights.

Web filtering software can assist administrators with limiting these types of interruptions. By simply blocking the sports and shopping categories employees won’t have the option of visiting these sites. More flexible Internet filtering software can allow for certain categories to be available during predetermined hours. One of the new trends is to impose quota based browsing limitations on users or groups of users to permit surfing for a limited amount of time within a 24 hour period. Another popular feature is a password over ride feature. This gives select end users a password that enables them to over ride the blocked message and grants access to the requested site.

In order to effectively manage and monitor employee Internet access this time of year it is essential that organizations have web filtering software in place. Filtering Internet access will aid in controlling bandwidth usage and discourage “cyber slacking.” The temptation is too great and the Internet makes it easy to ignore your work load for another fifteen minutes so that you can point and click your way over to your favorite sports site in order to watch the highlights from last night’s games.

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Two weeks ago we “blogged” about Cyber Monday and how organizations can utilize Internet filtering software to control online shopping. With the click of the mouse, Cyber Monday has come and gone and the results are in. The initial data indicates that online sales were up by almost 20 percent over 2008. That’s a heck of a lot of clicking whether initiated from home or from the office.

Businesses are not out of the woods yet. According to the analyst, “December 14 will actually be the busiest online shopping day of the year since this will be the last day consumers can order items and have them delivered before Christmas.” It is still not too late for organizations to implement web filtering software to control online shopping during work-production hours. To accommodate a work-life balance, more-robust filtering technologies allow administrators the ability to create rules in such a way that users are granted access to shopping sites during the lunch hour or after work, but are blocked during normal business hours.

Although Black Friday and the subsequent Cyber Monday only come around once a year, online shopping for both business and non-business purposes takes place year round. By installing content filtering software, businesses gain tighter control of employees’ online activity, maintain a productive environment, and potentially reduce the risk of malware and other malicious software from entering the network.

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A quick scan of the Internet shows that a slew of major retailers have been “leaking” their Black Friday ads since early November, and many retailers were actually starting to display the holiday cheer even before the Halloween candy had cleared the shelves. Every year it seems that the Christmas buying season is starting earlier. But does it ever really stop on the Internet? According to the National Retail Federation Cyber Monday kicks off the online holiday buying season and more than half of the people with Internet access at work will shop from the office.

In our regular post back on October 21^st, we asked the question “Should businesses monitor employees’ Internet activity?” Today we are going to pose the question a little differently, “If over half of your employees are planning on shopping online while at work, shouldn’t an employer control or at least limit the amount of time surfing for Santa?”

Today’s Internet filtering software allows organizations the granular control to limit access to websites by categories like shopping. Access can be further reduced to particular users or groups and can even be narrowed down to certain times of the day. Another popular way to take advantage of content filtering software is to institute quota based browsing. This enables managers or administrators the ability to grant access to individual websites or categories of websites for a predefined amount of time. For instance all users in the marketing group can have access to the shopping category for 15 minutes a day at a time of the employee’s choosing.

When companies implement web filtering software not only are they increasing employee productivity, but they are also gaining control of their bandwidth. If multiple employees are downloading music and videos for gifts or watching the latest online ads, network resources can be strained and a noticeable difference witnessed in Internet performance. In corporations that rely heavily on the web to conduct business, this can have a profound negative impact.

With the holidays rapidly approaching and employees’ attention turning towards holiday cheer, simple measures like implementing Internet filtering programs can help control the jingle bell rock.

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One man’s favorite tea is another’s foul brew. And that goes for Internet content as well as evidenced by recent articles relating China’s low opinion of Google , Yahoo China  , the real-estate portal Soufun and many more.  These sites ended up on the China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center list of “vulgar content” offenders. China also dictates that all computers sold in China must include a web filtering solution that blocks “harmful” content. China’s desire is to protect social morals, and “the physical and mental health of the youth.”

Harmful web site content certainly damages companies, as well as the individuals viewing the content, in three important ways:  Bandwidth, Productivity, Liability. Much of this content is images or videos which require great amounts of network bandwidth resources to download or stream to a user’s system—stealing resources from company authorized activities, such as, legitimate file transfers from the company to vendors, customers, or partners. Calculating productivity costs is as simple as multiplying the amount of time spent on selected web sites by employees’ hourly rate and extending that number over  12 months to see how much the company has lost on inappropriate work time usage for the year. Liability damages arise from creating “a hostile” environment and is somewhat less easy to calculate except to note that monetary damages go beyond just attorneys’ fees to include special damages (loss of current and projected income, out-of-pocket expenses, and more) and general damages (pain and suffering), and even punitive damages if gross negligence can be proven.

The solution, of course, is to have a web-filtering product—software or appliance. But, not all solutions are created equal. Most companies do not have the same clout as the world’s largest population to dictate the desired restrictions so the best solution is the one that offers as much flexibility as possible.

When evaluating web filtering solutions, it is important to choose one that can change with the organizations evolving needs. A few key questions that most decision makers ask when comparing different solutions include:

1. How robust is the database?

2. Do I have the ability to create filtering rules that accommodate the business needs?

3. What type of visibility do the reports and other tools give me?

In many cases, being able to create granular rules to enforce acceptable use policies is the primary reason why an organization will implement filtering technology. Some of the more popular options when it comes to policy enforcement consist of rule based enforcement with the ability to password override the rules for designated users, quota based browsing, and administrator notifications when rules are violated.

Regardless of whether an organization is implementing a solution to control bandwidth, increase productivity or reduce liability, it’s imperative that the software is flexible enough to meet the daily needs of the business.

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‘No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;’

John Donne may have had a deep understanding of mankind when he penned that famous prose but if he were alive today I imagine that he would have written (or texted)–

No Man is an Island entire of itself – but he may live on an island by himself as long as he has internet access to Facebook and Twitter;…

The rapid growth of social networking made possible by the Internet is staggering.  CNet recently reported that Twitter reached a milestone of 5 billion tweets and that eight billion minutes are spent on Facebook daily.  One could argue about the merits of social networking on the Internet but there is no denying the fact that these sites receive a lot of attention – possibly too much.

This all leads to my question…How should a business address Internet access to social networking sites or any non-business related site?  After all, employee time spent using these sites while ‘on the clock’ is time NOT spent creating revenue for the business.  If we allow employees to take coffee breaks, smoke breaks and lunch breaks to recharge their minds and bodies, is it reasonable to allow Internet breaks for employees to get their fix of Twitter and Facebook?

A few employees, like those in the HR department, may have a valid argument in that they need access to the social networking sites to assist with recruiting and background checks, but should that entitle everyone to socialize freely on the net?  Other departments may also come up with creative arguments to gain access to the social network, which can lead to some “gray” areas.  

To avoid misunderstandings, every organization should have a written Internet access policy that clearly explains how employees may use the Internet while at work.  This policy outlines access by department or job function.  Employees should read and sign the policy which then becomes a part of their permanent employee record.  To enforce the Internet access policy, organizations should implement a monitoring/filtering solution that allows them to block, or limit access to, non-work related sites.  Instituting a company-wide Internet access policy offers administrators the ability to preserve company resources while also providing a certain level of individual freedom.

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Shakira—Columbian music superstar—claims to have no problem with fans downloading her music illegally. She says that the practice makes her “feel closer to the fans and the people who appreciate the music“. She doesn’t agree with those who want to impose controls on this activity.

The Internet service provider, iiNet, is being sued by a collective group of the world’s biggest film and TV companies in federal court in Sydney Australia for not doing anything to stop customers from illegally sharing movies and TV programs. The plaintiffs claim that over a 59-week period, almost 100,000 illegal file shares were made of files stored on iiNet systems. The loss in revenue is significant enough for these companies to engender the law suit.

While the debate continues on whether “to share” or “not to share” there is a more insidious issue to consider for managers and business owners.

Are your employees using company equipment to download and share legal or illegal files with others—and on company time? File sharing programs are easy to obtain and file-sharing sites are many. Unauthorized file downloads and sharing can tax company resources with bandwidth use and file-storage availability issues while exposing the company to legal and employee-productivity concerns.

Find out when and what your network’s being used for with internet monitoring and filtering software. Look for a program that provides flexible installation configurations, rich feature offerings, and detailed reporting capabilities. A robust reporting feature is essential to help justify your purchasing decision, and also provide guideposts on how to keep company resource-use on track.

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Internet filtering solutions are readily available for businesses of all shapes and sizes and many at the enterprise level have already deployed them. So why aren’t more small- and medium-sized businesses jumping on the content-filtering bandwagon?  Maybe the better question is, should they actively monitor employee Internet activity?  Is the amount of non-worked related surfing worth the effort and expense of implementing web filtering?

The answer is simply “yes”, because the cost of productivity loses add up quickly. For example, if a $10/hr employee spends as little as 10 minutes each day in non-work surfing, a loss of $400 per year is realized. Multiple that number against the number of employees with Internet access (25 employees = $10,000 loss). Most importantly, 10 minutes/day is a very conservative estimate of time spent on non-work surfing. Imagine the vast number of employees who took flight with the balloon-boy last week by watching the drama unfold on their employer’s PCs?

Corporations and private-business owners alike should have the right to protect their investments by preventing unnecessary web surfing. Companies who institute policies to block sites that provide shopping, adult content, and video or audio feeds are taking the right step to manage bandwidth resources, increase productivity, and reduce legal liabilities. Welcomed side effects include improvements in the overall stability and security of the network. Even though many employees still consider it a “perk” to surf and shop while on the clock, it is time to start considering it a privilege.

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As we approach the mid way point for the month of October you can still participate in National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). Going on its eighth year, NCSAM increases awareness about protecting computers and our cyber infrastructure from unwanted activities. Every individual, business, academic institution, and government office needs to implement the necessary safeguards to prevent virus attacks, block phishing attempts, reduce data theft, and protect against unauthorized network users.

Security awareness one month in the year is a good start. However, we should strive to ingrain a daily theme of “all secure—all the time” with software solutions that are committed to improving computer and network security in the organization. Supporting these solutions with published corporate policies, and ongoing employee training focused on increasing awareness of cyber security issues, makes the organization’s commitment to this theme clear to employees.

In a layered security approach, content filtering is an important component. Using a web filtering product to prevent access to malicious web sites decreases an organization’s risk of virus outbreaks, data loss, and unexpected downtime. Many internet filtering tools are on the market today but care should be taken to determine the vendor’s commitment to product accuracy, as in the availability and frequency of database updates. At FutureSoft we work each day to improve the quality of the databases in our Web filtering solution, DynaComm i:filter, by reviewing current Web security issues and determining how our product can be updated to help organizations create a more secure work environment.

Let us know what you are doing in your organization to participate in NCSAM and the solutions that you’ve implemented that you believe are helping.

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With the seemingly never ending onslaught of corporate bail outs and ongoing rhetoric from the top politicians about financial responsibility, it’s hard to believe that a government agency would get caught wasting taxpayers’ money. Or is it? A recent article in the Washington Times reveled that at least 10 employees from the US Science Foundation were investigated for misconduct. Out of these 10, 7 cases involved surfing pornography on the Internet while at work. One of the extreme cases here alleged that a “senior executive spent at least 331 days looking at pornography at work. Seriously, 331 days, was this a hobby or an addiction? Take a minute and consider the potential cost to the taxpayers.

A deeper question is, “why wasn’t some sort of Internet filter in place to prevent this type of activity?” The technology that filters internet content has been around for years, yet the US Science Foundation is just now implementing tighter content filtering rules which leads me to believe that there was no employee Internet monitoring in the first place. Another question that comes up is how many times did the technical staff have to get involved to eradicate viruses or other security threats from these computers and at what cost? What was the true cost to tax payers due to lost productivity, technical support and training, as well as implementing the new controls? Shouldn’t our government offices be more diligent in policing their technology efforts and limiting their waste as they hold corporations to higher standards?

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