NSFW!

The benefits that the Internet brings to business are growing every day. Social media and networking are increasingly important to people’s professional and personal lives. But employers must make sure that staff are aware of the dangers associated with working online. Without training, staff may well find themselves the weakest link in the security chain, without ever knowing what they are doing wrong.

As Get Safe Online Week draws to a close tomorrow, the TUC (Trades Union Congress) has launched a toolkit to help improve workers’ Internet security awareness and skills. Caring people at the TUC are concerned that while employers are improving their Internet security systems, their good work could be undermined if they fail to ensure that their staff’s skills are up-to-date.

It seems that over half of us admit to using the same password for multiple Web sites, a quarter of us post confidential or personal information online, and some of us even open e-mail attachments from an unknown source, potentially putting us at risk from Sarah Palin’s cleavage.

This could obviously have a ‘huge’ impact on employers, who may stand to lose valuable commercial or customer data, or lose money through damage or downtime due to attacks. In response, the TUC has teamed up with GetSafeOnline.org and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) to produce ‘Not Safe For Work?’ - a free online toolkit for staff. The toolkit brings together video interviews from industry experts, quizzes and reading lists, and offers a personalised prescription on Internet security issues that is tailored to an individual’s Internet usage.

If you can’t sleep at night you can read all about malicious software, identity theft, your rights at work (the dos and don’ts of personal computer use at work and whether you are being monitored), and even your privacy online (tips for social networking users, whose personal and work life could be visible to more than they think). As well as being used by inquisitive UK workers directly, it is hoped that employers will make time available for their staff to use the toolkit, as a kick-start into longer term plans for training in this area and to ensure their employees are as up-to-date as possible.

The Internet is a fantastic place to be, and a valuable resource for both individuals and employers. But having the right software and infrastructure in place is not enough on its own to protect your organisation against online threats. Behaviour plays a key part, and knowing what should and shouldn’t be done while we’re using the Internet is just as important. As a result, staff training is an essential part of protecting organisations and employees against Internet threats, risks, and bare flesh.