Keep Social Networking a Boon Not a Bust
One could argue that the impact of social networking sites on the business world today rivals significant technological changes that occurred in the industrial revolution.
According to a study by global communications firm Burson-Marsteller, more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 100 companies are using at least one of the most popular social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and corporate blogs) to actively engage with stakeholders. Sixty-five percent of the largest 100 international companies have active accounts on Twitter, 54 percent have a Facebook fan page, 50 percent have a YouTube channel, and one-third have corporate blogs.
The Nielsen Wire reports that the world now spends over 100 billion minutes or 22 percent of all time online on social networks and blog sites.
Unfortunately, as the popularity of these sites grows, so do the security risks associated with them. The dangers associated with social networking are magnified in businesses, as organizations are exposed to data loss risks in real time. Google and Facebook have both fallen victim to malicious attacks designed to steal confidential data. In addition to this, hackers are now flooding the walls on social networks with spam and malware. Websense products are specifically designed to scan every piece of content on social networking sites in real time.
Another risk is from users themselves. Employees may accidentally post confidential information to a social networking site. Websense has found that data loss over the Web is four times more likely than over email, because when employees use email, they’re typically emailing their peers at work. Data sent to a social site may be open to anyone.
Websense® offers solutions that help organizations take advantage of social networking sites while helping to prevent the risk of data loss, malware, and the constant threats that are delivered through even the most legitimate sites. Delivered via the Websense global Security-as-a-Service infrastructure, the Defensio™ Web service provides bloggers, Facebook users, and social website owners with accurate, personalized and adaptive protection from comment spam, malware, and other threats embedded in user-generated content.