Why would you worry about your employees surfing the Net?
A Salary.com survey said that 64% of workers admitted visiting websites not related to work, every day while at work. 24% of those employees said they spent 5 or more hours a week on such websites. (Note that Salary.com, ironically, has a section for job searches.)
Since another survey suggests that 40% of Internet use in the workplace is not business related, I’d guess that (surprise!) people are understating how much they use your computers for non-work purposes.
Let’s just skip over how much your company’s bandwidth may be used for watching porn.
In 2012 the Federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that using an employer’s computer for inappropriate purposes is not a Federal crime, though one statute called that into question. You the owner may have to prove that your employee was harming your company before you can discipline/fire/jail him or her. Here’s a link to a Wall Street Journal law blog.
IT service provider IT Radix recommends that you implement Internet monitoring software to go with your anti-virus, encryption, and other defenses. It’s not insulting any more than a railing on stairs is insulting. Tell your employees what the rules are, have a written policy, and the software will remind people when they trip.
(Thanks to our client Surfernetwork for the picture of the surfboard hanging from the ceiling of their office. Surfernetwork provides live streaming of radio stations, virtual radio station support, and streaming of corporate meetings and messages. )
