Internet access control has become a very common and beneficial practice for business of all types and sizes. With the growth of threats and traps surrounding the digital environment, blocking internet access is no longer an alternative to becoming a need for companies .
In addition to favoring the incidence of cyber scams and other risks to business networks and information, access released to the internet is also a big villain for employee productivity. This is because many workers end up wasting their time available on tasks that have nothing to do with company activity , such as:
- Access to social networks;
- Exchange of instant messaging;
- Personal emails;
- Entertainment pages;
- Game platform;
- Pornography;
- And many others.
To know what should be blocked to increase safety and bring more productivity to the business, managers need to analyze what are the main activities performed by workers, most commonly accessed content and resources that can be harmful . The more information the company collects, the more assertive the strategy of blocking websites and resources in the digital environment.
Internet access x productivity
We know that internet access is a key tool for performing various activities in the corporate environment. currently impossible to find a business that does not depend on quality internet access . To stay competitive in the market, organizations need to rely on all the resources that help them increase their productivity and deliver quality products and services to consumers.
In recent years, there has been a substantial growth in access to social networks in Brazil. According to a survey conducted by the RD Station platform, Brazil has 171.5 million active users on social networks , a number that is equivalent to 79.9% of the country's population. Know which are the most used social networks in Brazil:
These numbers demonstrate how access to this type of platform has been gaining place in the routine of Brazilians and this includes people who perform this type of access during working hours.
Allied to these platforms, there are also other types of content that are widely used. According to data collected by ComScore, the most accessed networks by Brazilian users are YouTube, Facebook and Instagram , but are directly followed by Tik Tok, Kawaii, Twitter, among others.
With so many options to distract themselves, workers lose a lot of time by accessing these improper content and failing to perform the activities really essential for the business. Although the internet is fundamental for the accomplishment of numerous activities, it should be efficiently controlled by managers to avoid these distractions in the workplace .
The great enemies of productivity and cyber security
Just as the internet is a risk to employee productivity, it is also a great gateway to numerous threats that can endanger the confidentiality of your information , the integrity of your devices and the safety of your networks.
For this reason, in addition to an internet access policy , it is also necessary to have a tool that allows you to block internet access within the business environment and escape these risks. Here are the main enemies of productivity and cyber security in the workplace:
Social media
This type of content is what else can damage the productivity of your employees. As we have seen earlier, most Brazilians have at least one active profile on some social network, favoring distractions and waste of time within the workplace . It is very common to waste hours on social networks without even realizing it, leaving aside the essential activities.
Potentially harmful sites
There are many websites on the Internet that have the highest risk of favoring cyber attacks and blows. Many of these sites have harmful content that can pose a great danger to companies. This type of site may contain malicious files and programs that can be used to contaminate devices, monitor users' behavior on the network, steal information, slow down, block access, and many other problems.
Although the email seems to be a simple and safe tool, it can also be used by cybercriminals to apply scams, access and credit card information, installation of malicious applications such as malware, and many others. One of the main scams on the internet, known as Phishing, uses email as the main tool to reach his victims and steal information.
Pornography and violence sites
Although it seems obvious to insert this type of content into an internet access policy , blocking this type of site is also necessary to avoid problems in the company. Although many managers believe that their employees do not perform this type of access during working hours, it is important to consider the alarming numbers of people who consume this type of content: 22 million people assume consume adult content in Brazil (2022 data).
As much as your trust in your employees is, it is essential to block such content and track employee access pattern in order to identify possible suspicious behaviors .
Audio, video and entertainment platforms
In this category we can mention video playback sites such as YouTube, streaming tools like Netflix, Spotify, Disney Plus, and many others. This type of service contributes to the loss of productivity and makes those that employees lose focus on the tasks being performed. Although many believe they can do multiple tasks, it is important that to maintain quality and avoid delays to block these tools.
Communication services
Exchange of messages outside the scope of work can also be a major problem for productivity and information security. Sites like WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype, Facebook Messenger, and others can be blocked to reduce productivity loss and prevent possible cyber attacks that use this type of tool to fool users.
Game platforms
Like social networks, game platforms can also be very harmful to business productivity. Even if the intention is to stay shortly in this type of site, the employee may end up losing hours playing while the tasks accumulate and the company's demand is impaired.
In addition to these content mentioned, it is important to verify users' access pattern to determine other tools and websites that may cause some harm to the company , both in productivity and cyber security. In this sense, we can mention e-commerce sites, sports, esotericism, travel platforms and many others.
The internet is full of traps
Like productivity, cyber security should be a priority within your business. This is because the internet is full of threats and traps that can cause a lot of problems for your business.
There are numerous cybercriminals expecting only a vulnerability to perform a cyber attack and steal information, damage their devices, cause inactivity or some other problem. See below main risks in the digital environment:
Malware
In this category we can refer to any type of viruses or harmful application that aims to cause some kind of problem for you or your business.
This type of content can reach in many ways to the user , such as:
- Through suspicious emails and annex;
- Within false sites;
- Misleading advertising;
- Virus alert;
- Between others.
Malware kind of problem for your business. Through this threat, cybercriminals are able to control their devices remotely , monitor the activities and use of the ( spyware ) , divert confidential data, block access to company tools and resources, etc.
Phishing
Phishing and most used threats in the digital environment. Arriving through emails, this type of scam has the help of social engineering to deceive their victims and convince them to open an attachment or click on a link . Usually the purpose of the cybercriminal is to obtain confidential data or bank information to favor other types of scams.
Ransomware
This type of threat has gained a lot of visibility in recent years because of the immense impact and damage it can have. In the last year alone, the number of attacks of this type doubled in volume, according to data from the Kaspersky Digital Security Company . In this scam, cybercriminals perform a company's information, that is: with the help of encryption, data and systems are that the business can no longer maintain its activities.
Once this lock is made, a redemption is required for the information to be unlocked and returned to the company . This blow has been victimizing companies of all sizes and segments, causing immense financial losses and damage to the company's image in the market.
How to control access intelligently
As we can see throughout this article, blocking internet access is an essential strategy that can make all the difference when it comes to cyber security. This type of lock can also contribute positively to increased productivity within a business . But how to perform this lock intelligently?
Although possible, manual lock is not the best solution for companies. There are several internet tools that can help block internet access, but don't always deliver all the features that the company needs. For this reason, it is important to have an efficient and complete tool that helps block internet access more effectively.
It is very important that managers have great control over what is accessed within the company to avoid seeing business problems. For this you can count on solutions like OpenDNS , PFSense , Dnsfilter or Lumiun's tools .
Until later!
