Avoid financial losses with Internet content control, says Symantec

As more and more companies go online in order to participate in the emerging e-commerce community, they are having to deal with a new threat to their competitiveness - Internet abuse by company employees is affecting available network bandwidth and resulting in severe financial losses.

"This, together with increased liability and diminishing employee productivity, will force businesses to implement solutions restricting internal use of the Internet and email," says Jako Voges, Symantec marketing manager for the Middle East and Africa region. "This is especially true in Africa where bandwidth is limited.

"Studies have shown that 97% of companies that have opened up their network infrastructure are experiencing misuse of Internet-based privileges," Voges continues. "Instead of using the web to research work-related issues, employees are instead using the resource to obtain sport scores, gamble, indulge in online shopping, or even hunt for new jobs."

Additionally, he says, employees send each other emails containing large attachments over the company's network.

"These pastimes are not only unproductive, but also jam up corporate networks with enormous data streams that many companies have to pay a toll for, as this traffic not only moves across their internal networks, but also from company to company. The consequent reduction in bandwidth availability ultimately affects the company's bottom line."

According to Voges, companies have to decide between increasing their bandwidth or investing in content filtering software. "Corporations want to ensure they uphold a standard of network integrity by limiting loss of network service from spam and spoof attacks, and network congestion from system misuse," he says.

To help businesses overcome this hurdle, Symantec produces software that conserves bandwidth by means of URL filtering devices and email scanning technology. "Filtering technology regulates an individual's access to Web-based content through a combination of customisable URL lists," Voges explains. "Email scanning technology filters incoming and outgoing email for specified words or phrases, ensuring confidentiality and protecting against spam and inappropriate email usage. The result is improved network availability and enhanced productivity." "Reduced bandwidth can seriously affect a company's bottom line in the long term. Failure to address this issue will result in significant losses and can mean the difference between continued prosperity and financial disaster," Voges concludes.