Internet access control has become a very common and beneficial practice for businesses of all types and sizes. With the growth of threats and pitfalls surrounding the digital environment, blocking internet access has gone from being an alternative to a necessity for companies .
Besides favoring the incidence of cyberattacks and other risks to a company's networks and information, unrestricted internet access also poses a major threat to employee productivity. This is because many workers end up wasting their free time on tasks unrelated to the company's operations , such as:
- Access to social networks;
- Instant messaging;
- Personal emails;
- Entertainment pages;
- Gaming platform;
- Pornography;
- And many others.
To determine what should be blocked to increase security and boost business productivity, managers need to analyze employees' main activities, the most commonly accessed content, and potentially harmful resources . The more information a company collects, the more effective its strategy for blocking websites and resources in the digital environment will be.
Internet access vs. Productivity
We know that internet access is a fundamental tool for carrying out various activities in the corporate environment. Nowadays, it's virtually impossible to find a business that doesn't rely on quality internet access . To remain competitive in the market, organizations need to have all the resources that help them increase their productivity and deliver quality products and services to consumers.
In recent years, there has been substantial growth in social media access in Brazil. According to a survey conducted by the RD Station platform, Brazil has 171.5 million active social media users , a number equivalent to 79.9% of the country's population. Discover the most widely used social media networks in Brazil:
These numbers demonstrate how access to this type of platform is gaining ground in the daily lives of Brazilians, including those who access it during work hours.
Alongside these platforms, other types of content are also widely used. According to data collected by Comscore, the networks most accessed by Brazilian users are YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram , followed closely by TikTok, Kawaii, and Twitter, among others.
With so many distraction options, workers end up wasting a lot of time accessing inappropriate content and failing to perform truly essential business activities. Although the internet is essential for numerous activities, it must be effectively managed by managers to avoid these distractions in the workplace .
The Great Enemies of Productivity and Cybersecurity
Just as the internet poses a risk to employee productivity, it is also a major gateway to countless threats that can jeopardize the confidentiality of your information , the integrity of your devices, and the security of your networks.
Therefore, in addition to an Internet Access Policy , it's also essential to have a tool that allows you to block Internet access within the business environment and avoid these risks. Below are the main enemies of productivity and cybersecurity in the workplace:
Social media
This type of content can most negatively impact your employees' productivity. As we saw earlier, most Brazilians have at least one active profile on some social network, which leads to distractions and wasted time in the workplace . It's very common to waste hours on social media without even realizing it, neglecting essential activities.
Potentially harmful sites
There are many websites on the internet that pose a high risk of fostering cyberattacks and scams. Many of these sites contain harmful content that can pose a significant risk to businesses. These types of sites can contain malicious files and programs that can be used to infect devices, monitor user behavior on the network, steal information, cause slowdowns, block access, and many other problems.
Although email appears to be a simple and secure tool, it can also be used by cybercriminals to commit scams, steal login and credit card information, install malicious applications such as malware, and much more. One of the most common online scams, known as phishing, uses email as its primary tool to reach its victims and steal information.
Pornography and violence sites
While it may seem obvious to include this type of content in an Internet Access Policy , blocking these types of sites is also necessary to prevent problems within the company. While many managers believe their employees don't access this type of content during work hours, it's important to consider the alarming number of people who consume this type of content: 22 million people admit to consuming adult content in Brazil (2022 data).
No matter how much you trust your employees, it's essential to block this type of content and monitor employee access patterns to identify potential suspicious behavior .
Audio, video and entertainment platforms
This category includes video streaming services like YouTube, Netflix, Spotify, Disney Plus, and many others. These services contribute to productivity losses and cause employees to lose focus on the tasks at hand. Although many believe they can multitask, it's important to block these services to maintain quality and avoid delays.
Communication services
Exchanging messages outside of work can also be a major problem for productivity and information security. Websites like WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype, Facebook Messenger, and others can be blocked to reduce productivity losses and prevent potential cyberattacks that use these tools to deceive users.
Gaming platforms
Like social media, gaming platforms can also be very detrimental to business productivity. Even if the intention is to spend only a short time on these types of sites, employees can end up wasting hours playing while tasks pile up and the company's demand suffers.
In addition to the aforementioned content, it's important to monitor user access patterns to identify other tools and websites that could be detrimental to the company , both in terms of productivity and cybersecurity. These include e-commerce, sports, esoteric, travel, and many other websites.
The internet is full of traps
Just like productivity, cybersecurity should be a priority within your business. This is because the internet is full of threats and traps that can cause serious problems for your company.
There are countless cybercriminals waiting for just one vulnerability to launch a cyberattack, stealing information, damaging your devices, causing downtime, or causing some other problem. Below are the main risks in the digital environment:
Malware
This category refers to any type of virus or harmful application that aims to cause some type of problem for you or your company.
This type of content can reach the user in different ways , such as:
- Through suspicious emails and attachments;
- Within fake websites;
- Misleading advertising;
- Virus alert;
- Between others.
Malware can come in many forms and cause all sorts of problems for your business. Through this threat, cybercriminals can remotely control your devices , monitor activity and keystrokes ( spyware ) , steal confidential data, block access to company tools and resources, and more.
Phishing
Phishing and widely used threats in the digital environment. Delivered via email, this type of scam relies on social engineering to trick victims into opening an attachment or clicking a link . The cybercriminal's goal is usually to obtain confidential data or banking information to further their scams.
Ransomware
This type of threat has gained significant visibility in recent years due to the immense impact and damage it can cause. In the last year alone, the number of such attacks has doubled in volume, according to data from digital security company Kaspersky . In this scam, cybercriminals hijack a company's information, meaning they encrypt data and systems so that the business can no longer continue its operations.
Once this blockage is established, a ransom is demanded to unlock the information and return it to the company . This scam has been victimizing companies of all sizes and sectors, causing immense financial losses and damaging the company's image in the market.
How to control access intelligently
As we've seen throughout this article, blocking internet access is an essential strategy that can make all the difference when it comes to cybersecurity. This type of blocking can also positively contribute to increased productivity within a business . But how can this blocking be implemented intelligently?
While possible, manual blocking isn't the best solution for businesses. There are several online tools that can help block internet access, but they don't always provide all the features a company needs. Therefore, it's important to have an efficient and comprehensive tool that helps block internet access more effectively.
It's crucial for managers to have strong control over what's accessed within the company to avoid potential business disruptions. For this, you can rely on solutions like openDNS , pfSense , DNSFilter , or Lumiun tools .
Until later!
