Most firms cannot identify attackers
The seriousness of staff ignorance is over looked when using the internet at work, and education is a must!
Using programs like instant messenger (IM) or visiting sites that are not work related for lunch time perusal are mainly to blame! This ignorance can have catastrophic effects on the companies privacy and IT uptime.
It was discovered in a recent survey that over 73% of businesses in the UK suffered a Spyware attack in 2006. 19% percent were unable to identify the source (Source security firm Peapod).
While 57 percent of businesses have banned instant messaging (IM) in the workplace, nearly 70 percent use methods to enforce the ban that are obsolete, easy to circumvent or completely ignored, the poll found.
Our Chief Analyst Matthew Aylard says that…
“Technology is not the only answer when providing protection, the users need to be aware and play a key role in ensuring that Spyware does not get a foothold in the infrastructure. For example… using an instant messenging program like Microsoft Live™ messenger correctly can be a great communications tool, when used incorrectly has massive security risks, usually down to careless or ignorance. Staff education is just as important as having the perfect technology solution”