Business Daily (Nairobi)
Kui Kinyanjui
30 October 2007
When a local IT manager found that the company's Internet speeds were clogged up, he also discovered that the culprits were not junior workers. They were in the upper echelons of the company.
"It was a bad time," said the 31-year-old IT services manager. "I had been asked to find out which department was clogging up the company's Internet speeds - only to find out that the culprit was the CEO himself."
Large downloads of adult content had clogged up the system. In a recent article penned by Stephanie Armour, for USA Today, the issue of employees and managers wasting time on adult sites was raised.
According to the article the crackdown is not heading anywhere "in part because laptop computers, cell phones and other portable devices have made it easier for risk-takers to visit such websites undetected."
And thus, even as employers get "more aggressive about using software to block workers' access to inappropriate websites," the number of risk takers is growing.
Locally, and as more companies embrace technology, IT departments are fighting the more insidious side of allowing employees free access to the Internet.
In scenes reminiscent of what took place in Western countries as companies came online in the early 2000s, Kenyan managers face the menace of employees who are out for a cheap thrill on company time. If they are not on Facebook they are on adult content sites.
In what was one of the biggest "Internet sackings" in the United Kingdom, mobile phone network operator Orange fired 40 members of its staff for "the distribution of inappropriate material" in 2000.
The problem also plagued such high offices as the White House, where one employee was forced to step down for inappropriate surfing habits.
In February 2000, 23 employees of New York Times were sacked for swapping porn at work. A BBC poll discovered that nearly 90 per cent of workers said they "felt accessing the Internet during quiet moments of the day can be addictive and many employees were prepared to risk disciplinary action by their employer".
The poll also included more innocent non-work related surfing habits, including Internet shopping and other personal pursuits.
While there are no local laws in place that allow companies to fire dirty-minded employees, many more companies are asking employees to sign agreements that allow for disciplinary action should they engage in inappropriate behaviour.
Most employees think its for sending out e-mails that may get the company in trouble, but IT managers say it can cover an increasing number of sins.
"You could get fired for forwarding inappropriate material to a colleague or in some instances even receiving it. We must crack down as these kind of mail and Internet use actually take up a company's money," said Benjamin Mogaka, an ICT consultant.
Mr Mogaka said there was increasing demand from local companies of all sizes for ICT policies, as a result of the firms giving their employees Internet access.
The situation is not helped by the existence of technology savvy employees who are able to circumvent blocks put up by IT watchdogs.
It is getting increasingly easy to find ways to get around the blocks employers may put up by Googling for block "killers" on the Internet.
A Harris Interactive poll conducted last year found that 16 per cent of men who have access to the Internet at work have acknowledged having seen porn while on the job.
The research revealed that women tend to be more conservative in their surfing habits, with just eight per cent saying they had visited porn sites or sent raunchy e-mails.
The Harris poll found that few are willing to openly admit to dirty surfing, with just six per cent of men and five per cent of women saying they did it intentionally.
Researchers and psychologists who have studied surfing behaviour say those who view online porn at work take the risk of becoming victims of addictive behaviour.
A new worry is the advent of companies giving their employees access to company property such as laptops and Internet enabled phones, which allow surfers easier access of the internet.
The USA Today article reported that about 65 per cent of US companies were using such software in 2005, according to a survey by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute, up from 40 per cent in 2001.
"Many employers say that because it's so easy to access porn on portable devices - even those that are company-owned and outfitted to block access to adult-oriented websites - they are increasingly concerned about being sued by employees who are offended when co-workers view naughty images," said the article.
There is a wide range of wireless devices, which are making it "impossible" to crack down on the offenders.
"When it comes to portable devices, employers can use blocking software if they have provided the equipment to workers," Richard Chaifetz, the CEO of ComPsych, a Chicago-based employee-assistance provider is quoted saying.
Employers are today restricting the use of employee-owned laptops during work time. Some companies in western countries have been taken to court over porn-at-work complaints.
USA Today says that a 2004 survey of 15,000 people by Elle magazine and MSNBC, found that 15 per cent of men and eight per cent per cent of women "acknowledged having e-mailed sexual images to co-workers".
The matter is not heading anywhere.
"This dilemma is going to get much worse, given the capacity of hand held, electronic devices to download porn," Carleton Kendrick, a psychotherapist, is quoted saying.
"That will eliminate an employer's opportunity to check which workers have been going to porn sites on company computers."
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