We all know how much internet access is present in the daily life of companies and the corporate work environment in teams. It is impossible to imagine the execution of activities in offices without teams connected to the internet by performing their activities.
With all this connectivity, numerous benefits are generated for companies and the market process. Communication between teams, and with the market, is much easier and more efficient. Systems are increasingly faster and more integrated, customer service becomes much more qualified, the productivity of the company and employees increases, among many other benefits, where each company can enhance within their needs.
However, exploring technology and extracting from it the best results is always a combination of balance between investing in innovations and available resources (both labor and equipment), optimizing the use of resources and managing resources so that they are used in a way that does not cause damage and business problems.
The risks that the internet offers to companies are exactly what we will address in this article . Perhaps the most relevant is about Internet security, which involves loss of information and incidence of viruses. Other important points are regarding the productivity and focus of employees, idleness and poor sizing of resources. So let's look at these items more detailed in the next lines.
Security of internet access to companies
In most cases of infection on business devices, it is through users who end up accessing harmful sites from fake links or email . These sites install viruses or malware that can generate various types of problems:
- Compromise computers or network performance
- Loss, theft or leakage of information
- Expenses with equipment and systems maintenance
- Idle time of resources and employees
Within these problems, it is worth highlighting the kidnapping of information, known as ransomware . In this type of attack, hidden computers are installed, which encrypt relevant business data and make them inaccessible. From there they ask for an access key to release data access, which is provided by paying a value to the “kidnappers”.
Installing this type of malware usually occurs when the user accesses a harmful website without knowledge and recklessly, when not updating the operating system, uses outdated software or pirates, or even opens some kind of malicious link.
Protection against these risks can be resolved with simple measures. Initially it is important to guide employees so that they can identify possible threats. For this you can download this safe use manual from the internet and share with your team so that the concern with the theme is everyone.
It is also necessary and of great importance to have some kind of control in navigation that prevent access to these harmful sites. Control can be done with robust solutions such as firewall/proxy, solutions adapted such as Dell Sonicwall and Fortinet Fortigate or more modern and practical solutions such as Lumiun Box , which is a suitable service for small and medium -sized companies, aiming at a small investment and simplified and intuitive management.
TIME TIME WASTE
There are a lot of research that shows the size of the waste of employees with the internet with access to social networks, personal email, use of smartphones, talking to friends and family, entertainment sites and sports, games and many others. It is estimated that each employee spends an average of 72 minutes a day on personal activities on the internet during work, which represents 15% of working time .
Converting this waste of time to values, we can reach very impactful numbers. In a company with 30 employees who work connected to the internet for example, where the monthly cost per employee is an average of $ 2,000, considering the waste of 15% of the time , would represent $ 9,000 monthly of waste.
If you also want to calculate the cost of misuse of the internet in your business, you can use our time waste calculator.
Lack of focus of employees
In addition to the waste of time, another impact generated by the misuse of the internet by the team is the lack of focus. Employees may be accessing their profiles on social networks or conversations on the smartphone. This reduces attention to the activities being performed and can compromise the quality of the tasks delivered and therefore the quality of services provided by the company, and may even negatively impact the company's image in relation to its customers.
Slow and low performance of systems and equipment
In companies where there is no management in relation to the use of the Internet by employees, it may become a problem, as some users may be consuming most of the network traffic, downloading files, watching videos or series, among others.
The slow internet in corporate networks can affect numerous company activities, such as the performance of systems, sending and receiving email, communication and customer service, among other points. It often happens because some users simply consume most resources. Given this, this consumption needs to be identified so that measures are taken to correct the problem.
To make sure your provider is delivering the contracted speed, it is recommended to use some internet speed monitoring system, good options are Speedtest and Fast.com . Another way to solve this problem is, again, through services that allow the control of the use of the internet, where you can filter and limit what each user or equipment can access, by content categories, specific times and identify employees who are using Internet resources improperly or consuming resources beyond what is necessary.
Expenses with maintenance and idle resources
Not least, it is the expenses generated directly with system and equipment maintenance. When a computer is infected with some viruses for example, there is the cost of solving this problem, which is usually the responsibility of IT professionals, where financial expenses are generated, as well as the cost of the idle time of the team.
As we can see, just as the internet brings benefits, it can generate some problems and even damage to your business. Therefore it is necessary that within business management, measures that will protect the company from risk to prevent these inconvenience we mentioned from being part of everyday life.
To find the ideal solution for your business, it is necessary to accurately identify what exactly the needs and problems need to be solved, to evaluate the benefits of existing solutions, and to find the best option, with better cost/benefit. In most cases, it is not necessary to invest in expensive and complex technology solutions, which in addition to high investment, require highly specialized professionals.
As we have already said in the article, most security problems in companies occur from recklessness and lack of knowledge of employees. It is up to professionals to have responsibility for the productive use of the internet. However, it is up to the company, first of all, to guide the team about the risk and the proper use of the network and to monitor employee performance.
The company must also have a defined internet and smartphone use policy and inform its employees about it. See a step by step how to create an Ethics Manual and good internet use at work and download the document model on internet use policy in companies .
In addition, it is recommended to implement a service to protect navigation and prevent employees' abuse on the Internet. To solve this problem in a practical and efficient way Lumiun Box is an excellent option, as it is a service focused on small and medium enterprises and allows you to make a complete management of internet use, without large investments in servers or specialized professionals. For more information visit www.lumiun.com/ box or contact our consultants .
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