Not safe for work - the prevalence of porn

With one in five men admitting to accessing porn at work, organisations know they are sitting on a potential time bomb. While accessing porn is not illegal – unless it is explicit – the risks associated with brand damage and employee harassment litigation are significant, says Andrew Millington.

No organisation can impose an outright ban on downloading of images or videos in the workplace. Yet without any controls in place, employees will continue to abuse the corporate network, regardless of any acceptable usage policy. Furthermore, no line manager relishes the task of chastising a top sales person for their use of porn; nor does the business want to risk losing a number of valuable employees as a result of their inappropriate behaviour.

It is therefore essential to put in place a tool that not only monitors all email and flags up those containing suspicious images but also automates the organisation's response – such as an email citing the suspected breach of the usage policy.