Businesses need 'definite policy' on staff internet usage

13:30 15th July 2008

Companies should ensure that they implement a policy which firmly sets out what staff can and cannot do on the internet.

That is according to industry magazine Web-User, which has suggested that firms which fail to do this could be putting themselves at risk of potentially malicious software.

In addition, the publication asserted that is well worth setting out guidelines for internet use at work so that companies have something to refer to should any dispute arise.

News editor Ben Camm-Jones also said that a clear policy can help to hamper the amount of time employees can potentially waste on the internet instead of being productive.

He explained: "I think the best practice is that companies really need to establish a very definite policy about what their staff are and aren't allowed to do on the internet and make it very clear to all employees what that policy is.

"If there is ever any doubt then you can refer back to it and see for sure what it is and a lot of IT managers are very concerned about the sites that people visit."

The global ratio of spam from new or previously unknown sources in email traffic was over 75 per cent in June, research from MessageLabs showed.

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