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Internet communications have evolved from point-to-point
channels such as email to real-time, presence-oriented communications
like IM, P2P file sharing, Skype, and web conferencing. FaceTime
terms these real-time communications applications 'greynets'
- defined as network-enabled applications that are often downloaded
and installed by the end user without the permission or knowledge
of the IT department and use highly evasive techniques to circumvent
the existing security infrastructure.
Greynet Traffic in the Enterprise
Greynets in the Enterprise: Third Annual Survey of Greynet
Trends, Attitudes and Impact
For the third consecutive year, FaceTime commissioned NewDiligence,
an independent market research company, to conduct its annual
survey on the growth and impact of greynets. As in prior years,
the research was conducted among a large sample of corporate
IT managers and end users across all size organizations in North
America, UK and Europe. The research study includes compiled
data from 737 IT managers and end users. Key findings can be
found below.
IT Attitudes
- Eight in ten IT managers are at locations that have
experienced a greynet-related attack within the last six
months (82%); the same rate as the prior year
- Greynet usage is widespread: virtually all IT managers
report at least one greynet application in use (99%).
- IM usage makes IT nervous: 40% of IT managers report
that public IM usage at work poses "serious risk"; another
46% indicate that IM poses "some risk" - for a total of
86% of managers who are wary of the public networks and
their impact on the work environment.
- On average, IT managers experience 59 incidents a month
that require some kind of repair or remediation to enduser
PCs. Each such repair requires, on average, 9.9 hours of
work.
Monthly Frequency & Costs of Greynet Incidents
Employee Attitudes
- 85% of employees report that they use their work PCs
for "personal, non-work purposes," and among these employees,
38% send personal IMs or engage in chat while at work.
- The personal use of work computers is independent of
company size. Across the board, approximately eight in 10
will surf, shop and chat over the company network, testimony
to the continued blurring of personal and professional workspaces.
- Fewer than half - 45% of employees - are at work locations
where personal IM messaging is monitored by the organization.
- The number of work locations with eight or more greynet
applications in use has almost tripled in the last three
years
Employee Use of Work Computers
Greynet Concerns in Unified Communications Deployments
- 44% of IT managers are at companies that have or are
actively planning to roll-out Unified Communications platforms
- Larger companies, measured by employee size, are twice
as likely to roll out UC compared to small companies
- Security is the top concern for IT managers who are
rolling out UC, reported by 86% of managers. Security trumps
ROI (65%) by a relatively wide margin.
- 45% of IT managers are at work locations where Enterprise
IM or Unified Communications are deployed. Even at these
locations, 74% report that public IM networks are also used
by employees.
Important Issues for UC Suite
Growing Compliance Concerns
- 68% of IT managers are at work locations where there
are specific guidelines and polices that govern the archiving
and storage of IM, email and chat communications.
- 53% of IT managers have received guidance from their
corporate counsel concerning the archiving and storage of
emails, IMs, chats and other employee communications.
- 45% of organizations would be unable to produce an archive
or record of a specific employee’s IM communications, if
required to do so for legal purposes.
- 32% of the companies that have deployed enterprise IM
also report they are incapable of producing logs of employee
IM communications.
Amount of Time to Product Communications
Source: FaceTime Greynets Research
Study, November 2007
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FaceTime
Greynets