Research from Symantec finds more companies allow employees to access social network sites, but many still haven't adopted policies to guide how social media should be used Most organizations do not have a social networking policy, despite giving employees unfettered access to the popular web sites, according to a survey conducted by Symantec earlier this month.The survey was an attempt to gauge employee use of social media after a 2010 Symantec report on enterprise security found that enterprises view social media as a threat to security, said Kevin Haley, director of Symantec Security Response. Also see 4 tips for writing a great social media policyApproximately 50 percent of the 336 respondents to the survey said they access Facebook or YouTube at least once a day, with 16 percent indicating they access the sites between three and five times daily. More than half access the sites for business reasons, according to the research. Another 46 percent said the sites were accessed for personal reasons (for more on the secruity risks this can create, see Social media risks: The basics).“To me the most interesting thing about this is this high level of concern CISOs and CIOs have about social networking, and yet so few of them have really implemented policy or procedures or any kind of blocking,” said Haley Among organizations who responded, 42 percent said their organization does not block employee access to social media sites, and has no policy in place around social media use. Only 5 percent indicated a complete blocking of the sites at work, a solution that is not really feasible in today’s business environment, said Haley.“You can block something at the gateway,” he noted. “But if your laptop users go home, they are no longer behind that gateway, and they feel now is the time they can go out to social networks.” Haley said most companies will need to allow employee access to social networking sites, both for business reasons and because employees have begun to demand it. In fact, 32 percent of survey respondents indicated that being banned from social networks on the job would play a role in their decision to work for an organization. A report released last month by Clearswift found unrestricted internet access was more important than pay to many of today’s younger workers. “The first step is to have a policy,” said Haley. “You can’t enforce anything if you dont have a policy. People need to evaluate the risks, put a policy in place and educate users about the policy. With things like this it’s also important to educate users as to why these policies are in place, because these things are often so easy to circumvent.” Related content news Apple patches info-stealing, zero day bugs in iPads and Macs The vulnerabilities that can allow the leaking of sensitive information and enable arbitrary code execution have had exploitations in the wild. By Shweta Sharma Dec 01, 2023 3 mins Zero-day vulnerability Vulnerabilities Security feature The CSO guide to top security conferences Tracking postponements, cancellations, and conferences gone virtual — CSO Online’s calendar of upcoming security conferences makes it easy to find the events that matter the most to you. By CSO Staff Dec 01, 2023 6 mins Technology Industry IT Skills Events news Conti-linked ransomware takes in $107 million in ransoms: Report A ransomware campaign linked to the ostensibly defunct Conti malware group has targeted mostly US businesses, in a costly series of attacks. By Jon Gold Nov 30, 2023 4 mins Ransomware news Okta confirms recent hack affected all customers within the affected system Contrary to its earlier analysis, Okta has confirmed that all of its customer support system users are affected by the recent security incident. By Shweta Sharma Nov 30, 2023 3 mins Data Breach Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe