But the study also found that despite these policies, employees' personal use of corporate network resources is rising. News Radio Fusion audio primers Computerworld Minute Elron's second annual corporate Internet usage study was conducted by NFO Interactive, a market research firm that interviewed 576 employees who have Web and e-mail access at work. Companies face a lot of issues with regard to leakage of confidential information, excessive spam and offensive e-mail. In the area of inappropriate surfing, one in three corporate workers said they spend 25 minutes or more each day using the Internet for personal reasons. Much of that time is spent shopping, with the most popular destination sites for vacations and vehicles.
Employees report worse behavior among their colleagues.
Companies seem to be cracking down on inappropriate Web usage. One out of three employees say they know a co-worker who has been confronted for surfing abuse. The study's findings are worse than expected for David Bradshaw, an MIS analyst at a Comcast Communications division in King of Prussia, Penn. Bradshaw uses Elron's Internet Manager software to monitor Internet usage by 100 Comcast employees in his building. I've been monitoring usage for six months, and I haven't seen anyone go to adult sites.