HONG KONG, 2 JULY 2009 – About half of Asia’s information technology (IT) managers admitted that their users tried to bypass their company’s security policies to access Web 2.0 applications (Hong Kong, 54 per cent; China, 53 per cent; and India, 43 per cent), according to the latest Web 2.0 survey.
Conducted by Websense, a US-based integrated security solutions provider, the global Web 2.0 survey covered 1,300 IT managers across 10 countries including 100 each in Hong Kong, China, and India. They were asked about their perceptions of Web 2.0 in the workplace, tested their understanding of Web 2.0 technologies and assessed their organisations’ level of security preparedness.
Web 2.0 sites and applications allow user-generated content and comprise the majority of the top 100 most visited sites on the Internet, including search engines such as Google and Yahoo, resources such as Wikipedia and news sites such as CNN.
The key findings from the survey include:
Web 2.0 is pervasive
Web 2.0 has made an impact in the workplace and will continue to change the way organisations conduct business as more Web 2.0 applications make their way into the corporate environment. According to the survey:
Nearly all IT managers (95 per cent around the world; 98 per cent in Hong Kong and 100 per cent in China) allow employees access to some Web 2.0 sites and applications.
Sixty-two per cent of IT managers around the world; 69 per cent in Hong Kong, 78 per cent in China, and 67 per cent in India believe that Web 2.0 is necessary for their businesses.
More Web 2.0 demands
Employees are clamouring for even more use of Web 2.0 in the workplace, leaving IT departments to find the right balance between preventing security risks while still allowing safe and flexible access. The survey found that:
Forty-seven per cent of IT managers around the world, and more than half in Hong Kong (54 per cent), China (53 per cent), and India (43 per cent) admit that their users try to bypass their company’s security policies to access Web 2.0 applications.
Most IT managers (86 per cent around the world; 88 per cent in Hong Kong; 93 per cent in China; 94 per cent in India) feel pressured to allow more access to more types of Web 2.0 sites and technologies.
Dangerous security gap
Though many organisations already allow access to some types of Web 2.0 sites and applications, a dangerous security gap exists.
Most IT managers reported feeling confident in their organisation's Web security, though they admit they do not have the necessary security solutions for protection from all threat vectors.
Additionally, many IT managers appear to be confused about what exactly constitutes Web 2.0, and what they do not know could put their organisations at risk.
Most IT managers are confident of their organisation’s Web security (80 per cent around the world; 72 per cent in Hong Kong; 77 per cent in China; 86 per cent in India), despite the fact that the findings reveal many of the enterprises are dangerously ill-equipped to protect from Web 2.0 threats.
Only nine per cent of IT managers around the world report having necessary security solutions in place to cover all threat vectors. And only 10 per cent in Hong Kong and 19 per cent in China are adopting comprehensive security solutions.
Research from Websense showed that 57 per cent of data-stealing attacks are conducted over the Web, and together with the Web 2.0 survey findings, they demonstrated that new policies are needed to provide the flexibility for employees to access the Web for their jobs while preventing inappropriate use or security threats.
Web 2.0 balance act
The survey reflected that IT managers around the world are struggling to strike a balance between taking advantage of the benefits of Web 2.0 while mitigating the security risks.
“The reality of the business environment today is that organisations can no longer simply block access to Web 2.0. With members of the ‘millennial’ generation now in the workforce, employees not only expect access to Web 2.0, but some even use it as their preferred method of communication," said William Tam, technical manager, Asia Pacific and Middle East, Websense.
