Cisco Finds Social Networks, Random Devices Pose Security Risks
By Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
Article Date: 2010-06-29
The results of a new enterprise security survey should be reliable; they stem from a poll involving 500 IT security professionals based in five different countries. They're not likely to make enterprise security experts happy, however, as they show that users often disregard rules in order to use social networks and unsupported devices at work.
Apparently 68 percent of the IT professionals involved in the survey, which was sponsored by Cisco and conducted by InsightExpress, reported that employees use unsupported social networking apps. As a result, a full 51 percent of the professionals named social networking as one of the three biggest risks their organizations face.
Then Cisco said in a statement, "Nearly half (41 percent) of the respondents have determined that employees have been using unsupported devices, and more than one-third of that number said they have had a breach or loss of information due to unsupported network devices."
So there are two obvious options: either crack down on unapproved use more than ever, or cooperate with users to achieve some sort of compromise. And Cisco favors the second alternative.
Fred Kost, Cisco's director of security solutions, said, "The best strategic approach is to focus less on restricting usage and more on effective solutions to ensure highly secure, responsible use. . . . Organizations should develop education programs, corporate policies and best practices in order to realize the extensive business benefits of social networking while protecting against the variety of potential threats that it can present."
This should save enterprise security professionals from having to wage war on their coworkers, while at the same time making all of a company's employees happier.
About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.
|
