A new global survey on social media risks released today reveals a dangerous gap in corporate social media security.
Over 60 per cent of more than 4,000 respondents in 12 countries said that social media in the workplace represents a serious security risk – yet only 29 per cent report having the necessary security controls in place to mitigate it.
Malware attacks have increased because of social media usage, and it’s growing.
Fifty-two per cent of organizations experienced an increase in malware attacks as a direct result of employee use of social media, and 27 percent say that these attacks recently increased more than 51 percent. The United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, and Singapore report the highest increases.
For example, when a new link is posted to a popular social network, it may direct users to a site that downloads or leads to data-stealing code.
Organisations need security technology that can analyse links as they appear.
New technologies like social media, cloud services, and mobility require real-time content security, which analyses information on the fly, because the information is created and consumed rapidly.
“We asked thousands of IT security professionals and most respondents agree that the use of social media in the workplace is important to achieving business objectives,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute. “However, they believe social media puts their organizations at risk and they do not have the necessary security controls and enforceable policies to address the risk.”
Even with the risks, social media presents a large business opportunity for collaboration, reduced expenses, and more efficient processes.
While organisations believe that bandwidth has been diminished due to social media, companies that block social media are in danger of being left behind.
The study surveyed 4,640 IT and IT security practitioners in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Mexico, Singapore, United Kingdom, and the United States with an average of 10 years’ experience in the field.
Article source: http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Science+and+Tech/Story/A1Story20111013-304777.html
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