Instant Messaging, Facebook, MySpace and the Workplace
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008Recently Facebook and Myspace introduced Instant Messaging (IM) to their sites. Annoyed bloggers aside, it will be interesting to see if the use of Social Networking Site (SNS) IM takes off. There certainly is big potential since there are over 80 million active Facebook users and 110 million active Myspace users.
This new development has a potential impact on your business. Even before the introduction of SNS IM, there was already plenty of discussion about the pros and cons of social network usage at work. The problem with this new feature is that employees could use SNS IM to discuss potentially sensitive company business. Unfortunately, SNS IM poses many of the same security threats as public IM in addition to other concerns like a lack of archiving.
As always, we recommend taking a careful approach to dealing with potential public IM threats. You may choose to try to block these services outright, which is possible but can sometimes be difficult. Whether you block or not, make sure to educate your employees on the potential risks of SNS IM. A chat in Facebook or Myspace is no more secure then one on a public IM.