According to a survey released today by FaceTime Communications, and as reported on CNET News, 97 percent of online workers surveyed have used "one or more Internet applications at work." As a result, 73 percent of IT managers reported "at least one Internet-related attack" on their internal networks. Viruses, Trojans, worms and spyware are the top threats posed.
Social networking has taken hold in the workplace, as well. LinkedIn, YouTube, MySpace and Facebook are used 82 percent of the time for personal reasons versus 79 percent for legitimate business-related work.
Instant messaging, personal blogging, music and shopping round out the top distractions at work.
The cost to businesses is high.
The survey finds that the average IT manager has to deal with 34 incidents per month, taking 22 hours to remedy the attack. At an average wage of $70 per hour, the cost to a business runs more than $50,000 per month.