Where would we be without our employees? They do everything from make coffee to write comprehensive reports to pacify irritable customers — oh right, and they also squander upwards of $35 million annually from company coffers by browsing the Internet for entertainment.An IDC (International Data Corporation) survey shows that 30 to 40 percent of employee Internet browsing is nonwork related, causing a 40 percent drop in company productivity. Companies are also losing hundreds of millions of dollars due to lawsuits and security breaches resulting from employee Internet misuse. Can your business spare $100 million?
If not, there is an answer: Web Filtering. Web Filtering solutions essentially control how employees can use the Internet — for example, what sites they can access or what information they can email — and monitor their use by tracking Web-site visits or storing copies of emails. As the Internet grows and becomes more of a distraction each day, this extra precaution has become a necessity. So put those lurking sexual harassment lawsuits to rest, bump up employee productivity, protect company information and save millions.
Web Filtering solutions are as variable as the companies who use them. From the convenience of centralized management to the need for a low-cost solution, vendors have you covered. And with such a wide range of available features, businesses can be as lenient or as comprehensive as they wish. You can monitor without controlling, block only a few sites (or nearly everything), regulate email, use password protection — whatever floats your boat. So take the time to assess your situation and decide which solution works best for you.
For smaller businesses, centralized management would not only be unnecessary but also a financial burden. When you have only a limited number of employees to worry about, a mere $40 per employee could cover all your Web filtering needs. One such example is ContentProtect Professional software. With licenses starting at $39.99, this product allows an administrator to define appropriate Internet usage at anytime, can be customized for individuals or groups, has an override feature for blocked Web sites, controls applications that hog bandwidth and even includes instant email notifications of Internet misuse.
While individual licenses are convenient and cheap, don’t forget that this also means that the filter will often be managed on the employee’s computer, not the administrator’s. But fear not, because vendors have already considered this. Software can be password protected, so that only the administrator can change the settings or turn the filter off.
Now $40 per employee is great for 10 employees, but what about 100 or 1,000? And would you really want to have to individually configure all of those applications? Here is where centralized solutions save the day. Larger companies that can afford centralized Web filtering will benefit from the ability to control and manage all functions from one authorized computer. If your company is contemplating making a new hardware purchase, consider buying a firewall with a built-in filter to save money. If not, look at software solutions, which offer comprehensive protection while having the added benefit of allowing you to keep your current hardware. For example, Burstek’s WebFilter takes care of all of your standard Web-usage problems, and also includes advanced features such as time-of-day blocking, automatic user authentication, active directory integration and more. With so many products on the market, there is a perfect Web filtering solution out there just waiting for you.
So do yourself a favor and look into Web filtering solutions. You don’t want to end up like Chevron, which forked over $2 million in a sexual harassment suit involving inappropriate comments in an employee’s email, or even worse, become one of the nearly 80 percent of companies that has acknowledged financial losses due to computer breaches in the past year. Fifty-five percent of those companies counted their combined losses at almost half a billion dollars. These setbacks are clearly never good for business. So unless you enjoy losing huge chunks of money or just can’t resist the thrill of a juicy lawsuit, protect your employees and protect yourself with a Web filtering solution.
Read more.
