Your Approach to Acceptable Use Policies May Be Unacceptable

These highlighted results are not based on a random sampling, but rather on proactive feedback from the IT community.

The conclusion from this survey is simply that a very high percentage of businesses of your size are leaving themselves open to employee abuse of network privileges and ultimately to trouble. This is apparently because whichever AUPs are in place are either ambiguous or incomplete, or there are no IT solutions in place to make sure employees abide by policies and company rules.

IT administrators don't always have time to put together an AUP, because they are historically thin on resources. As a result, the idea of implementing a solution to enforce the AUP becomes unappealing, because it is perceived to increase the burden already placed on IT. However, they should rest assured that robust filtering solutions that are easy to install, manage, and maintain are not myths but realities in today's technology marketplace.

SMEs need to understand what's at risk and thereby better equip themselves to meet threats head-on. The first step is to develop a Security Policy and an Acceptable Use Policy that support their business goals, and are detailed enough to include all the issues companies might encounter.

The next step is to acquire the tools and technology that can enforce them, and the procedures to undertake when enforcement is required. It's not hard, and whatever the cost, it's less than the cost of a major lawsuit or the damage to your business that can result from a virus or Trojan that has been unleashed on your network.