Social Networking

07/12/2009

By Simon Morris

This article will look at how best to manage the security issues social networking brings to business and if a company decides to stop staff using social networking how can it monitor this and avoid security breaches from threats left behind by computers that have been used to access social networks.

Social networks can simply be described as people having conversations online using a range of communication tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Bebo and Twitter. A social network is exactly what it says on the tin, it's a communication network of social...

...contacts and seems to have become the most popular way to stay in touch. Forrester Research stated that the number of people using the web will increase by 45% to 2.2 billion by 2013, the total global internet audience is currently 625M and two thirds of these internet users have now joined a social networking site (417M). This is a huge number of people and consequently the security risks are equally substantial. Businesses must address these risks.

It seems hard to justify the use of social networking in business as the sites are more focused on keeping in touch with friends, sharing photos, video and chatting; however businesses should not prevent employees from catching up with colleagues and talking with friends while in the office, on their tea break or having a cigarette. Staff morale is important and it would be viewed as draconian to block reasonable use of social networking sites at work. Many businesses are now embracing benefits in social networking to bring them closer to their customers and improve brand experience. The uses of social media seem endless, but what are the security issues that businesses need to consider before embarking on a new marketing campaign or allowing... continued on page two >

 

 

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