What is the cost of NOT blocking time-wasting websites?

15 Jun 2010 - Dave

I listened to a talk on Internet security last week.  The speaker was great.  He was entertaining and informative.  He talked about the cost of employees wasting time surfing websites.  He asked, was it worth it to block websites.

Facebook includes Farmville, Mafia Wars and other distractions.  Twitter, Meebo and AIM are quick outlets for gossip.

The speaker had a simple spreadsheet to calculate the cost per year wasted on web browsing.  Here’s a web version if you want to play with some numbers.

Number of employees:
Average hourly rate: $
Average hours browsing web per week:
Weeks per year (not counting vacation):
Cost per year: $

(EMPLOYEES x AVERAGE_RATE x HOURS_PER_WEEK_GOOFING_OFF x WEEKS_PER_YEAR = COST)

An organization needs more than just plugging in a few numbers but it can help. If an employee is intent on taking a break and you block the favorite time-wasting website there is always Solitaire and countless other distractions.

There are lots of reasons to filter porn but it is a great idea from a security point of view to filter.  A huge percentage of the porn sites also deal malicious software.