Internet Threat Filtering and the St. Bernard iPrism Appliance
Not long ago I wrote a white paper for St. Bernard discussing the HR and legal impacts to unmanaged employee Internet use. I see that white paper has made its way finally to the web where you can read it. There are some obvious concerns associated with letting your employees surf the 'net without some form of control blocking them from all those quasi-legitimate sites out there.
This paper is designed for the Human Resources Manager and/or your business leaders. If you think your business needs a threat filter, take a look at my arguments for why you should have one.
Click below for a few snippet from the paper and the link where you can download it:
When it comes to your employees’ use of the Internet, it isn’t wise to underestimate the potential for damage to your organization.From a network used by dedicated scientific intellectuals devoted to honest
research, the Internet has grown to become the world’s biggest clearinghouse
for information of all kinds. At the same time, it has become a haven for
inappropriate behavior and systems attacks, as well as posing a liability for
any company that doesn’t appropriately manage their employees’ Internet use.Due to the serious nature of many threats, the Internet use of even one
unmonitored employee on a single unmanaged system can ravage a company’s
internal network, irrevocably delete critical data and ultimately ruin the
company’s ability to conduct business. Situations like this aren’t works of fiction,
but actual everyday occurrences for organizations with unprotected networks.Moreover, the potential for liability and subsequent lawsuits resulting
from employees’ inappropriate surfing habits is very real. Litigation from
just one incident can entangle a successful business in resource-draining
legal procedures that can drag on for months. That’s just one person, one
machine and one lawsuit. Now multiply this by several employees and
several incidents of Internet abuse. It’s easy to see how destructive
unmanaged Internet access can be.It’s clear that employees in today’s businesses have come to rely on the
Internet for everyday workflow and that removing that access could easily
cause productivity to suffer. Because of this, companies must rely on the
Internet to maintain the successful flow of business while seeking to mitigate
the threats associated with employee Internet abuse.This paper will discuss the risks involved with unmanaged Internet
access, specifically focusing on the needs of Human Resources (HR) and
Compliance Managers, and describe the controls your company can put in
place to alleviate them. We’ll also discuss Internet-based threats and the
resulting legal issues and regulatory compliance requirements with which
you must contend in order to protect your business...
The paper goes on to talk about the specific battles unmanaged networks do with Inappropriate Surfing, SpyWare, IM, Phishing, Malware, and P2P Apps. It also discusses the business impact of these problems like legal liability, compliance regulations, bandwidth and productivity loss, and security breach.
Check it out (registration required) at:
http://entmag.com/techlibrary/resources.asp?id=406
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