Web Filtering: Is It The Right Decision For Your Small Business?

ITBusinessEdge: Web Filtering – Is It The Right Decision For Your Small Business?

Paul Mah continues his discussion of the pros and cons of Web filtering in the workplace and comments on a recent survey showing that SMBs are already using Web filtering.

“I wrote last month on whether SMBs should implement Web filtering, highlighting some of the arguments to implement it (productivity) as well as the consideration against deploying it (implied lack of trust for employees). While one user who chipped in shared about how he practices self-censorship to enhance personal productivity, another derided the idea as not enforceable. Even if Web filtering is not circumvented, a reader called CyberJ questioned, “What makes you think your employees are productive now? A slacker will always find a way to slack around.”

Sentiments on the ground aside, a survey conducted by GFI Software on small and mid-sized businesses last month determined that an 79.4 percent of 631 polled says their organization has either invested in a Web filtering or Web security solution, or are exploring plans to do so. This represents an increase from the 47 percent of U.S. SMBs that had the means to monitor or filter HTTP traffic last year, says the GFI report, which can be downloaded here (pdf).”