Tip of the Week: 3 Ways to Monitor Your Employee’s Internet Usage

The Internet is a vast and wonderful plain of many fruits and resources, but there are two sides to everything. It can also be a vile and disgusting place, with content that could make even the most hardened criminal flinch (or stare in astonishment). Keep your network safe by implementing a content filtering solution for your business.

The thing is, nobody likes limitations placed on them for anything. Using the Internet properly is about finding the perfect blend of productivity and security, which is easier said than done. Too much restriction can get your employees down in the dumps, while too much freedom could potentially lead to an accidental malware download. Here are three content filtering tips from Computerware to keep your business's network safe and your employees happy.

Set Clear Restrictions
Whatever restrictions you decide to impose on your Internet usage policy, it should be made clear and available to your employees what is being monitored and what is being blocked. Obviously, explicit content that can get your employees hot and bothered should be blocked, but there are other controversial sites that can potentially waste time, such as Spotify, YouTube, and Facebook. Ultimately, it's up to you, to make this choice, but whatever you choose, it should be made universal to all those involved. This means not playing favorites, which can destroy morale.

Make Difficult Decisions
There are two approaches to web content filtering: Hands-on, or hands-off. The hands-on aspect is reminiscent of big-brotherism (the NSA), or monitoring everything that your employees do. This is preferable for larger corporations who can afford to do so. But if you are a small business with a trusted workforce, you probably don't need to log each and every user's keystrokes. It all comes down to whether you want to trust in your employees to be productive, or whether you want to guarantee productivity at the expense of some morale.

Simplify Content Monitoring
Unfortunately for some businesses, monitoring every user's web traffic can be a daunting task, and you might not have the workforce to do so. To help, you could outsource your web filtering to Computerware. We can set you up with a robust Unified Threat Management solution that can block websites, control how much time employees are spent logging on to particular sites, and block malicious attempts to access your network with firewalls and antivirus software. It's a all-in-one solution that can keep your team productive with minimal risk to your network.

In a world where threats lurk in the shadows of the Internet, you can't afford to be carefree about your web security. Computerware can help you integrate a solution that will keep your network as secure as can be. Give us a call at (703) 821-8200 to boost productivity and security with one simple package.