By Chua Hian Hou

OFFICE staff locked out of using social networking and file-sharing sites while at work are resorting to other tactics to get their daily Web fix.

According to Web security firm Websense's survey of 400 regional companies, published last month, 86 per cent said they were under pressure from staff members, from bosses downwards, to allow increased access to Web 2.0 services, the industry label for interactive content like video-sharing site YouTube and social networking site Facebook.

Many cave in under such pressure, said Websense president John McCormack, while those that do not face mutinous staff: 47 per cent of the companies surveyed have had instances where staff members have breached the company's security policy in a bid to access such websites.

Such services hold an addictive appeal because of the professional and personal benefits they offer.

Social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, for instance, allow users to interact with potential customers; they are also a good way to identify job openings and keep in touch with friends.

One such user is sales professional L. Lim.

The 27-year-old, who did not want to give his full name as he is in violation of his company's information technology usage policy, is a fan of instant messaging (IM) programs and Facebook, which he uses to chat, play games and trade music files with his friends.

But last year, both services were blocked 'because of computer viruses and corporate governance issues, so we (his colleagues and himself) switched to Web-based IM like Meebo.com' to get around the block, he said. He has yet to find a way to bypass the filter on Facebook.

While such services have become increasingly indispensable in marketing as well as in keeping wired younger workers happy, uncontrolled access can land companies in trouble, said Mr McCormack.

An employee could, with one mis-click, accidentally upload confidential customer information. And once online, 'there's no recall button', potentially opening the firm to lawsuits, he added.

And then there are the legions of disgruntled staff and cyber-criminals who ride on such services to steal confidential information. Last January, seven former Citibank private banking staff were charged with stealing confidential information about the bank's top customers before joining a rival bank.

Many companies, said Mr McCormack, tackle the issue via a combination of technology and education.

Technology is used to flag potentially sensitive information like financial results or customer lists and raise an alert when someone tries to send this out. Education is the longer-term tool to get staff to be aware of the consequences of their actions and stop any risky behaviour.

A Samsung spokesman said the technology giant has a 'blanket ban' on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr for 'security reasons'.

'Many of our staff handle confidential information, and because of this, it is not advisable to allow access to such sites since you can never be sure how safe they are,' he said.

Only those who need to access such sites for work, like its online marketing staff, are exempt from this ban.

Meanwhile, computer peripherals company Razer, which uses Facebook to reach out to its customers, 'doesn't deny staff anything...we trust you to be responsible and get your job done', said chief executive Tan Min Liang.

In his company, employees can 'surf anything as long as their activities don't offend anyone'.

But he warned that those who indulge in activities that offend others or who use the office network for illegal purposes 'will get in trouble - I assure you'.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.