nsane.forums Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Employees shopping online could be using as much as two full working days worth of work time this holiday season, according to a recent survey. The report, conducted by research firm MARC and backed by IT industry group ISACA, suggested that users on average will spend 14.4 hours total shopping online from their work systems. Additionally, ten per cent of those surveyed said that they would be spending upwards of 30 hours shopping. The biggest reason for spending work time shopping was convenience, which was cited by 34 per cent of respondents. Boredom was the second most common reason, at 23 per cent. The use of social networks, shopping sites and other personal uses of the web has long been debated by managers and IT professionals. While personal web use at work is often frowned upon and sites such as social networks are often banned, studies have suggested that non-business internet use can also help boost productivity. Security has also been a major point of contention regarding personal internet use on business computers, as many popular social networking and ecommerce services are popular cybercrime targets. ISACA noted those risks in its analysis of the study, and suggest that rather than attempt to lock down systems and attempt to block all access, IT administrators instead educate users on safe web surfing practices to prevent fraud and malware infections. "With the Internet now available to almost any employee in the workplace, it's unrealistic to think that companies can completely stop the use of work computers for online shopping," said ISACA international vice president Robert Stroud. "What companies can and should do is educate employees about the risks of online shopping and remind them of their company’s security policy." View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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