According to the report - which took in responses from more than 4,600 IT and IT security practitioners about social media and security in their organisations - there has been a clear increase in malware that has been opened up with social media in a business.
The research also found that that more than half of the respondents from around the globe suggested that they’ve seen an increase in attacks due to employees’ use of social media in the workplace.
The report – entitled `Global Survey on Social Media Risks: Survey of IT & IT Security Practitioners' – notes that savvy businesses are using blogs, social networks, video on demand (VoD), wikis and other vehicles to quickly share information with their target audiences.
The result, says the study, can be greater brand awareness and an enhanced image in the marketplace. Social media can also play an important role in gathering intelligence directly from an organization’s target audience to help improve products, services and other areas of their business.
“As social media technology and the security for these tools continue to evolve, we imagine organizations will realize even more benefits”, says the report.
The study goes on to say that that the challenge businesses now face is how to ensure the use of social media vehicles does not jeopardize the security of their organizations’ networks.
“We believe that specific steps can be taken to reduce the risk without hindering the opportunities social media offers”, says the report, adding that, in order to achieve the right balance between enabling the use of social media and protecting the organization’s network from attacks, businesses need to:
Understand the risk social media tools create in the workplace.
Conduct a risk assessment to understand what practices may be putting the organization at risk.
Educate employees about how their social media usage could impact the company. For example, how posting something inappropriate could breach company security and hurt its reputation.
Create a comprehensive policy (including detailed guidelines) for all employees and contractors who use social media tools in the workplace. The policy should address the risks and the security procedures that should be followed.
Improve the ability through expertise and enabling technologies to detect and prevent attacks.
Consider the use of time quotas, bandwidth management and coaching to allow employees the freedom of the social web with policy controls to keep productivity and resource utilization in check.