Dan_Shues
06-18-2005, 12:09 PM
From Techweb:
Half of the largest 500 U.S. companies have had to take disciplinary action against employees sharing digital pornography or other illicit images at the workplace, a study released Friday shows.
In dealing with illicit images, 44 percent of the companies ended up firing the workers, while 41 percent took some other disciplinary action, according to the Delta Consulting study, which was sponsored by PixAlert Inc. The Westford, Mass., company makes software that detects inappropriate images on corporate networks.
More than 90 percent of the respondents said the biggest threats in terms of the originating source of pornography were the Internet and e-mail, or e-mail attachments. Other threats include cellular-phone cameras, memory sticks, CDs and Wi-Fi networks.
Even though 90 percent of the companies had procedures in place for handling the discovery of illicit images, 26 percent weren't fully aware of state and federal regulations regarding the viewing of inappropriate images in the workplace and its possible contribution to sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, the study said.
Attorneys first look for evidence in such cases in a company's records of Internet use, email traffic and images on the hard drive, the study said.
The Computer Usage Policy Study was based on interviews with executives in senior managerial positions responsible for computer usage policies. The surveys were conducted in May.
Half of the largest 500 U.S. companies have had to take disciplinary action against employees sharing digital pornography or other illicit images at the workplace, a study released Friday shows.
In dealing with illicit images, 44 percent of the companies ended up firing the workers, while 41 percent took some other disciplinary action, according to the Delta Consulting study, which was sponsored by PixAlert Inc. The Westford, Mass., company makes software that detects inappropriate images on corporate networks.
More than 90 percent of the respondents said the biggest threats in terms of the originating source of pornography were the Internet and e-mail, or e-mail attachments. Other threats include cellular-phone cameras, memory sticks, CDs and Wi-Fi networks.
Even though 90 percent of the companies had procedures in place for handling the discovery of illicit images, 26 percent weren't fully aware of state and federal regulations regarding the viewing of inappropriate images in the workplace and its possible contribution to sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, the study said.
Attorneys first look for evidence in such cases in a company's records of Internet use, email traffic and images on the hard drive, the study said.
The Computer Usage Policy Study was based on interviews with executives in senior managerial positions responsible for computer usage policies. The surveys were conducted in May.