Warning about staff viewing 'inappropriate websites'

According to tabloid newspaper reports last week hundreds of civil servants from a central Government department were disciplined recently for downloading pornographic images. It was claimed that over two million pages of such material were accessed in just eight months by staff and that some workers were subsequently sacked.

Following the reports a spokesman for employers' organisation the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said: "Staff that abuse the trust of employers and access inappropriate websites at work jeopardise the reputation of their company or organisation and risk offending their colleagues.

"Employees that fail to use office Internet access responsibly should not be surprised when firm disciplinary procedures are taken. It could lead not only to disciplinary action but to losing their job and even criminal charges if police decide to pursue a prosecution for accessing illegal material."

Warning for employers

However, there was also a warning to employers from the chief executive officer of safety organisation the Internet Watch Foundation, Peter Robbins.

He said: "We would always recommend that companies have a stringent Internet use policy in place which not only clearly outlines acceptable use guidelines but has very specific policies on potentially illegal material, with particular reference to child abuse images.

"Every time someone views this type of illegal content, they are not only breaking the law, but are condoning the abuse of children and sustaining the demand for the creation of such images.

"Internal procedures must be regularly explained and clarified to staff, including consequences for transgression. The personal and professional implications for both the individuals involved and the organisation are extremely significant as viewing illegal child abuse images can carry a penalty of up to 10 years' imprisonment."

Mr Robbins, whose group is funded by the internet industry, added that, despite new laws under the 2003 Sexual Offences Act, the majority of companies were still unaware of legal implications, liability and responsibility surrounding Internet pornography.

Detrimental effects

Andrew Clarke, VP and managing director of CyberGuard, told us: "There is no need for inappropriate use of the Internet in the workplace as there are many tools available that can prevent access to porn websites.

"However it is up to each company to put in place a user friendly Internet usage policy alongside Internet filtering tools that work for each individual company. The Internet is a powerful business tool, but unchecked inappropriate use can have detrimental effects on both the company and individuals.

"For the individual it can lead to addiction, embarrassment or even dismissal, for the company the result can be loss of band width, poor moral, low productivity, bad publicity, legal action and the need to terminate employees."

He added: "It is not just pornography that is the problem, downloading illegal software, music or videos from P2P or file share sites can lead to prosecution for copyright infringement and visiting inappropriate sites can lead to breach of security caused by infection by malware or spyware."