Punch

Travel, Webmail and Social Networking Most Commonly Blocked Sites In The Workplace According To Webroot

Travel, personal webmail and social networking websites have been identified as the most commonly filtered genres of website within the UK workplace - ahead of adult, gambling and video download content – according to Webroot, a leading provider of security solutions for the consumer, enterprise and SME markets, which has a global installed base of over 12 million users.

Trends observed by Webroot indicate that employees are attempting to access travel, webmail and social networking more frequently than ever before, indicating that many employees believe these sites to be an acceptable use of time and resources at work, whilst sites of a sexual nature or gambling sites are so obviously unacceptable that they are effectively being self policed.

Additionally, a survey of over 300 IT decision makers revealed that more than half (58%) of respondents believe that employees’ social networking activities pose a moderate or major threat to their business’ online security.

With web-borne malware having increased by up to 540% in the last three years and almost 5.5 million individual malicious programs identified during 2007 – including up to 1,000 new variants of existing malware in just one day - the number of malicious programs in circulation has now reached epidemic proportions. An increasing number of threats are being delivered via websites – not least in the form of bots and other web-based malware.

Webroot provides enterprise-class web security with better manageability, better value and better protection than other SaaS based web security products and in a manner that is considerably easier to manage than traditional hardware and software offerings. With Internet level protection against spyware, virus and phishing attacks, a 99.9% service uptime guarantee and both inbound and outbound web traffic and content filtering, Webroot Web Security SaaS offers an industry leading solution to the estimated 60% of the 4.3m UK business that are currently unprotected - and a lower total cost of ownership to those with either hardware or software solutions in place.

Neil Hammerton, VP EMEA, Webroot, commented: “With gambling and adult sites the most obvious genres to be banned in the workplace and therefore the most socially stigmatised, it seems that these areas are now relatively self policing. However, it seems that travel websites and webmail are up there with social networking in terms of drains of time at work. These sites are clearly less stigmatised in the workplace which appears to indicate why they have overtaken the obvious choices in terms of which are being most frequently blocked.”

Social networks have also been identified as a new vehicle for spammers – with ‘spamverts’ targeting users of social networking sites by promoting links to sites that contain malware. Consequently businesses which allow open access to social networks are effectively providing a loophole that spammers can exploit to target users with phishing and to infect corporate machines. 

In particular, various ‘Wall’ applications within social networks, which allow users to post and propagate text and multimedia content, are being abused by spammers as a promotional tool via spoofed profiles. In some cases, links to user profiles are being subverted, redirecting users to a site requesting login details that the spammer intends to capture and use thereafter.

 
Neil Hammerton, added: “Spammers continue to invest time in uncovering potential new vehicles for their message - and the social networking phenomenon is an obvious choice. Having managed to spoof user profiles it seems as though spammers are potentially able to dupe users – which again underscores the threat that social networking poses to organisations if accessed at work.”

For more information regarding Webroot Perimeter Security Services, visit http://www.webroot.com/uk.

 

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About Webroot

Webroot provides industry leading security software for consumers, enterprises and small and medium businesses worldwide. Globally recognized for its award-winning Spy Sweeper® line of antispyware and antivirus products, Webroot security software consistently receives top review ratings by respected third-party experts and has been adopted by millions globally. Webroot AntiSpyware Corporate Edition (formerly Spy Sweeper Enterprise) is a comprehensive, centrally managed solution that aggressively blocks, detects and eradicates spyware on desktops across the network.  Webroot AntiSpyware Corporate Edition with AntiVirus offers combined protection for spyware and viruses. Webroot recently entered the Software as a Service market and will now offer a comprehensive range of web-based email management and protection services.  Webroot products can be found online at www.webroot.com and on the shelves of leading retailers worldwide. To find out more visit www.webroot.com/uk or call 0870 141 7070.

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