Social networks have infiltrated themselves into the lives of millions of Internet users. While some businesses have embraced the phenomenon, others are being negatively impacted by the use of social networks at the office.
Aside from distracting individuals from their everyday work and affecting companies' bottom lines, they are also negatively impacting their security  .
Facebook, which has 350 million users worldwide, is the most disruptive to businesses because of the security risks involved, according to a recent report by Sophos. Reports show there has been a 70 percent increase since April 2009 in the number of spam and malware attacks on companies via social networks.
More and more companies are worried that social networks accessed through their systems are the cause of an increase in malware and spam attacks. The number of businesses affected by spam increased from 33.4 percent in April 2009 to 57 percent in December. And worldwide spam volumes could rise this year by 30 to 40 percent compared to 2009, according to Cisco's annual security report.
Finding Balance Between Sales and Security
When companies first began noticing a decrease in productivity by employees using social networks while at work, many accepted the use of social media because it allowed employees to spread the word about their product or service, which equated to more sales.
Businesses such as JetBlue Airways, Comcast, PepsiCo and others are using social networks to communicate with customers to get feedback on their brands and market their businesses.
In fact, Dell last year came forward to say it had more than $2 million in PC sales directly through the use of its DellOutlet account on Twitter.
And a slew of new businesses have been formed that specifically focus on providing entrepreneurs and business professionals with the tools to market their business on Facebook and other social networks.
Matthew Prince, cocreator of Project Honey Pot and adjunct professor of cyberlaw at John Marshall Law School, said social networks are no different than e-mail, and businesses need to use common sense to protect themselves, with measures such as antivirus software, browser updates, and separating marketing and sales machines from the machines that are used to access vital financial or account information.
"If you enable employees to have e-mail, the bad guys can send messages through e-mail; the only different [element] is that, because this technology is newer, there is a learning curve," Prince explained. (continued...)
Anne:
Posted: 2010-07-07 @ 7:45am PT
Social media apps can be a useful tool that an organization or an individual can use to promote a brand, product, cause or presence. When used inappropriately - and without a social media strategy and policy in place - accessing social media sites pose risk to network security and privacy. Palo Alto Networks has come up with three new whitepapers that allow businesses and IT departments to safely enable the use of social media sites, specifically Enterprise 2.0 apps like Twitter, Facebook and SharePoint, in the office.
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Social Media and the Customer Experience