Thursday, 5 April 2007New Tool Restricts Use of Internet, IM in Office, Improves Productivity |
| Zihtec Co. a vendor that makes software
to protect kids from online predators has come up with a new approach
that lets small and medium businesses monitor and restrict employee use
of the Internet as well as instant messaging (IM). Introducing the Internet Control for Business (ICB) tool earlier this week, Zihtec says this tool can block IM programs, access to unsuitable websites and prevent employees from taking care of personal business such as shopping online during working hours. Unlike some firewalls that block IM entirely, the upside of ICB is that it curbs internet usage to certain hours of the day like lunch breaks or limits IM to certain departments and at certain timings. ICB will also follow up with reports tracking employees’ web surfing history and IM conversations. Critics have said that limiting Internet and IM usage to certain times of the day is not a rare feature as similar traits can be found in web content filtering solutions provided by Websense and McAfee. And as long as such features are being considered, it makes more sense for a company to deploy solutions from McAfee or Websense since they also provide comprehensive protection against hackers, malicious code and other threats. Although ICB does block pornography, music and video downloads and permits company owners to customize the Web filter to block out websites and Web searches for certain words and phrases, it has not included advanced security features for the moment. This is due to the fact that the software if Vista compatible and since the new operating system already comes fitted with protection against malware, phishing, spyware and such threats, Zihtec says it does not make sense to duplicate the efforts. ICB is priced at 39.95 dollars per computer and already has a handful of beta users such as the Houston based Carlson Travel Agency. According to a research form Gartner, non-work related Internet misuse results in an estimated 40% productivity loss per year. |