We all know how much internet access is present in the daily lives of companies and in the corporate work environment in teams. It is impossible to imagine carrying out activities in offices without teams connected to the internet carrying out their activities.
With all this connectivity, countless benefits are generated for companies and the marketing process. Communication between teams, and with the market, is much easier and more efficient. Systems are increasingly faster and more integrated, customer service becomes much more qualified, the productivity of the company and employees increases, among many other benefits, which each company can enhance within its needs.
However, exploring technology and extracting the best results from it is always a combination of balance between investing in innovations and available resources (both labor and equipment), optimizing the use of resources and managing resources so that they are used appropriately. to avoid causing losses and problems to the business.
The risks that the internet poses to companies are exactly what we will address in this article . Perhaps the most relevant is in relation to internet security, which involves loss of information and the incidence of viruses. Other important points are in relation to productivity and focus of employees, idleness and poor sizing of resources. Let's look at these items in more detail in the next few lines.
Internet access security in companies
In most cases of infection on company devices, it is through users who end up accessing harmful websites using fake links or email . These sites install viruses or malware that can cause various types of problems:
- Compromise computer or network performance
- Loss, theft or leakage of information
- Expenses for maintenance of equipment and systems
- Idle time of resources and employees
Within these problems, it is worth highlighting information hijacking, known as Ransomware . In this type of attack, hidden programs are installed on computers, which encrypt relevant business data and make it inaccessible. From there, they ask for an access key to grant access to the data, which is provided upon payment of a fee to the “kidnappers”.
The installation of this type of malware generally occurs when the user accesses a harmful website without knowledge and recklessly, when they do not update the operating system, use outdated or pirated software, or even open some type of malicious link.
Protection against these risks can be resolved with simple measures. Initially, it is important to guide employees so that they can identify possible threats. To do this, you can download this safe use manual from the internet and share it with your team, so that everyone is concerned about the topic.
It is also necessary and extremely important to have some type of navigation control, which prevents access to these harmful websites. Control can be done with robust solutions such as Firewall/Proxy, adapted solutions such as Dell SonicWall and Fortinet FortiGate or more modern and practical solutions such as Lumiun Box , which is a service suitable for small and medium-sized companies, aiming for reduced investment and simplified and intuitive management.
Waste of team time
There are many surveys that show the amount of waste employees use on the internet when accessing social networks, personal email, using smartphones, chatting with friends and family, entertainment and sports websites, games and many others. It is estimated that each employee spends an average of 72 minutes per day on personal internet activities during work, which represents 15% of working time .
By converting this waste of time into values, we can reach very impressive numbers. In a company with 30 employees who work connected to the internet, for example, where the monthly cost per employee is on average R$2,000, considering the waste of 15% of time , it would represent R$9,000 in waste per month.
If you also want to calculate the cost of poor internet usage in your company, you can use our wasted time calculator.
Lack of employee focus
In addition to the waste of time, another impact generated by the team's misuse of the internet is the lack of focus. Employees can be constantly accessing their profiles on social media or chatting on their smartphones. This reduces attention to the activities being carried out and can compromise the quality of the tasks delivered and, consequently, the quality of the services provided by the company, and can even negatively impact the company's image in relation to its customers.
Slow internet and low performance of systems and equipment
In companies where there is no management regarding the use of the internet by employees, it can end up becoming a problem, as some users may be consuming the majority of network traffic, downloading files, watching videos or series, among others.
Slow internet on corporate networks can affect numerous company activities, such as system performance, sending and receiving emails, communication and customer service, among other points. It often occurs because a few users simply consume the majority of resources. Therefore, this consumption needs to be identified, so that measures can be taken to correct the problem.
To make sure that your provider is delivering the contracted speed, it is recommended to use an internet speed monitoring system, good options are Speedtest and Fast.com . Another way to solve this problem is, again, through services that allow control of internet use, where it is possible to filter and limit what each user or device can access, by content categories, specific times and even identify collaborators who are using internet resources inappropriately or consuming resources beyond what is necessary.
Maintenance expenses and idle resources
No less important are the expenses generated directly with the maintenance of systems and equipment. When a computer is infected with a virus, for example, there is the cost of solving this problem, which is generally the responsibility of IT professionals, where financial expenses are generated, in addition to the cost of the team's idle time.
As we can see, in the same way that the internet brings benefits, it can create some problems and even losses for your company. Therefore, it is necessary that within business management, measures are taken to protect the company from risks, to prevent these inconveniences that we mentioned from becoming part of everyday life.
To find the ideal solution for your company, it is necessary to precisely identify exactly what needs and problems need to be resolved, evaluate the benefits of existing solutions, and from there find the best option, with the best cost/benefit ratio. . In most cases, it is not necessary to invest in expensive and complex technology solutions, which in addition to the high investment, require highly specialized professionals.
As we already mentioned in the article, the majority of security problems in companies occur due to the recklessness and lack of knowledge of employees. It is up to professionals to be responsible for the productive use of the internet. However, it is up to the company, first of all, to guide the team regarding the risks and appropriate use of the network, and to monitor the performance of employees.
The company must also have a defined internet and smartphone usage policy and inform its employees about it. See a step-by-step guide on how to create a manual on ethics and good use of the internet at work and download the Document template on internet use policy in companies .
In addition to this, it is recommended to implement a service to protect browsing and prevent abuse by employees on the internet. To solve this problem in a practical and efficient way, Lumiun Box is an excellent option, as it is a service focused on small and medium-sized companies and allows complete management of internet use, without the need for large investments in servers or specialized professionals. For more information, visit box or contact our consultants .
4 comments
Comments closed