Security Basics mailing list archives
RE: Web filters - Effects on Productivity
From: Nick Duda <nduda () VistaPrint com>
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:34:07 -0400
I've noticed with content filtering we have less cases of "malware" getting installed on systems then without it. We use Smartfilter for different reasons in different sites, not just a means to restrict. - Nick -----Original Message----- From: listbounce () securityfocus com [mailto:listbounce () securityfocus com] On Behalf Of Dan Lynch Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 3:03 PM To: Noah; security basics Subject: RE: Web filters - Effects on Productivity I've been working with internet filtering and content control for an organization of some 2500 web users for about six years. I've not done a solid study, but in that time I've come to the opinion that there are plenty of ways to waste time without the internet. I look at excessive internet use like any other time waster - it's a social problem, not a technical one. If someone's not getting their job done, their supervisor needs tell them one-on-one to quit leaning on their shovel and get to work. On the other hand, if their work is getting done, what's the problem? Pretty soon you get to the point of arguing that any moment not spent specifically creating value for the organization is "wasted" and must be recouped. Anyone with a life will argue with that. I drink coffee. When I fix a cup, I take three minutes out of my work day to do so. I have two cups a day. Each time I take a sip I'm not providing value to my company. Add it up: each cup is maybe 50 sips x 3 seconds x 2 cups/day + 6 minutes prep time = 11 minutes/day spent on coffee, not work. I work about 250 days/year, so each year I waste some 2750 minutes of county time. Multiply that by my fully encumbered salary, and I steal nearly $2,300 each year from the county. We have some 1500 coffee drinkers. That's nearly 3.5 million dollars in lost productivity per year from coffee alone. But do we implement coffee monitoring? It sounds absurd, but this is exactly the logic used to sell internet filtering software. I think it's silly. Surfing the internet while you should be working is a social problem and a management problem. Using technology doesn't solve it; it only allows managers to be lazy. I think the best approach (cheapest and most effective) is direct and personal: walk up to whoever is wasting time on 45 minute smoke breaks, surfing ebay, chatting with their friends for an hour on the phone, smack them on the back of the head and say "knock it off!". Works every time, and no software is required :-) Dan Lynch, CISSP Information Technology Analyst County of Placer Auburn, CA
-----Original Message----- From: listbounce () securityfocus com [mailto:listbounce () securityfocus com] On Behalf Of Noah Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 7:58 PM To: security basics Subject: Web filters - Effects on Productivity I'm currently researching web filtering. While my job is not to play Internet Police with those whom I work, I do find it interesting that even though my company has a seemingly draconian Internet Access Policy, people still seem to waste plenty of time on the Internet. I, for one, am not exempt from this statement. My thoughts are that Web Filtering means different things to different people. HR believes that blocking sites such as CareerBuilder, Monster and LinkedIn keeps employees from sniffing out better jobs on company time. Desktop support believes it decreases the number of avenues for a widespread virus outbreak. Managers believe it keeps employees from wasting time in chat and on social networking sites. At the end of the day, I'm not sure how effective the productivity piece really is. If users can't access Facebook many settle for wasting an hour on the "letters to the editor" section of the local newspaper's website. As for the blogs I read (many security-related blogs are hosted on Blogger or Wordpress, which are blocked), I simply add them to Google Reader, which I can access. I read them anyways, at least they're related to my job. I'm not bringing into question the technical security benefits of web filtering; those are obvious. Do web filters in schools and offices *really* give productivity a boost, or do they simply shift what sites or activities employees waste company time on? Have there been any solid studies on this topic? --Noah
Current thread:
- Web filters - Effects on Productivity Noah (Apr 21)
- Re: Web filters - Effects on Productivity Manuel Aróstegui (Apr 21)
- RE: Web filters - Effects on Productivity Murda Mcloud (Apr 21)
- RE: Web filters - Effects on Productivity Dan Lynch (Apr 22)
- RE: Web filters - Effects on Productivity Nick Duda (Apr 22)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: Web filters - Effects on Productivity krymson (Apr 23)