Beefing up Security

What happens when employees use company time to browse through personal profiles on Facebook or for the latest YouTube clips. This issue is a new dilemma IT managers are faced with on a daily basis since Web 2.0 applications are springing everywhere in the enterprise. There are however, steps IT facilitators can take to ensure the business use of Web 2.0 applications while ensuring security at the same time. Charles Ross’s new post on the Security Insights Blog breaks down a couple of these steps in layman’s terms:

1) Web 2.0 applications such as wikis, RSS feeds, and blogs can often be nightmares for IT managers. These applications are essential in driving efficiencies within organizations, and can it be protected by requiring data protection controls.

2) Every company generally has an “Internet Use Policy”. Update all policies to include acceptable business usage of social networking sites, and have employees provide a signature of acceptance.

3) Lastly, block all unapproved sites using Web content filters. Provide employees a mechanism to require access to sites they feel have a legitimate business purpose, since you will encounter some resistance.

IT managers will have to stay on top of security measures since Enterprise 2.0 and Web 2.0 applications are bringing real business value to corporations. It will be interesting to see how IT pros will adapt to fit these applications into their organizations, while blocking unwarranted applications at the same time.