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Workplace Web surfers facing dismissal
august.qxd
7/29/02
3:23 PM
Page 3
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news user seems to be convenience. It seems that users will be able to move swiftly between websites, conducting their business with less effort. The Liberty Alliance Project comprises of over 60 consumer and technology organizations that are dedicated to developing and deploying open federated network identification specifications that support all current and emerging network devices in the digital economy. Members include American Express, General Motors, Nokia, RSA Security, United Airlines, Sun Microsystems and others. The 1.0 specification is based on the SAML 1.0 standard. The SAML standard is set to lead the way for Web services and has many supporters who are building SAML authorization capabilities into their products including RSA Security, IBM/Tivoli and Novell, among others. Criticism of the Alliance expresses privacy and security concerns. Some commentators feel that the companies involved in the alliance will exploit user confidential details for marketing purposes. Security is a concern issue because the specification is new and theoretical, not yet tested in the world of E-commerce.
internet News
Internet fraud — still hitting the finance industry Experian released a survey investigating Internet fraud in the UK in July. Retailers and finance providers were interviewed in depth.
The survey revealed that three-quarters of finance providers use automated fraud prevention systems to thwart fraud. The automated fraud prevention systems implemented are as follows: • CIFAS (53%) • National Hunter (MCL) (47%) • In-house system (41%) • Detect (Experian) 35% • Local Hunter (MCL) 24% 67% of online applications for financial products are automatically transferred into application processing systems while 33% are captured and then re-keyed into an application processing system. The most common types of fraud in the UK are as follows in order of importance: • • • • •
Stolen credit cards (77%) Identity theft (43%) Card generators (33%) Stolen checks (3%) Account hijacking (3%)
Retailers have stated that the use of stolen credit cards is so abundant because they are easily available, difficult to detect and easy to steal. The New York Times recently reported that credit cards are available to buy on a number of websites. Identity theft is also common because there is no available way to detect it yet and it is likely to succeed.
Misuse News
Workplace Web surfers facing dismissal Internet misconduct in the workplace is being
decisively dealt with in the UK as a quarter of UK companies have dismissed employees for this abuse, with nearly 70%, associated with Internet pornography as revealed by a survey released by Websense International. The survey was conducted with 544 human resource (HR) managers from some of the UK's largest corporations (with an average of 2500 employees). It was revealed that 72% of UK companies have dealt with Internet misconduct in the work environment and most of this attention was directed at online pornography abuse resulting in 69% of sackings in the UK. This has been reiterated in the recent HP case, where reports from The Register, state that HP has suspended more than 100 employees on full pay while an investigation takes place about the circulation of inappropriate material. HP has confirmed in a statement that "it is currently investigating the misuse of the company email system that contravenes its internal policy for all employees. HP takes any allegation of the misuse of corporate resources extremely seriously and has acted swiftly to initiate an internal investigation." After pornography, Web chat rooms (26%), and personal email browsing (23%) were the most common complaints that HR departments had to deal with. HR departments have also received complaints from discontented colleagues, complaining
about their co-worker's Internet antics. It has also been brought to light that dismissals for Internet porn are covered up. While Internet misuse in the UK is obviously a common problem, it is rarely openly discussed in the public limelight. The survey found that HR managers are caught up in an average of one complaint every month. Most prefer to deal with the problem by having a quiet word with the person in question (56%), followed by a verbal warning (29%). Nearly a quarter of the HR managers (23%) result to dismissing the employee in question. "Dismissing an employee for Internet misuse is a substantial cost to the employer", said Jonathon Naylor, barrister in the Employment, Pensions and Benefits Group of the Morgan Cole Law Firm. "While there are the obvious costs of advertising for new hires, recruitment, training and supervision, there are also additional financial burdens caused by the interruption of work patterns, the damage to morale and the negative publicity to the organization as a result of the dismissal." It becomes very clear through the survey that Internet misconduct is not just an IT issue and that the HR department is very much involved. The HR managers in the survey felt that 20 minutes a day was sufficient for employee personal Internet use, but commented that the reality was more like 30 minutes a day. 3
7/29/02
3:23 PM
Page 3
(Black plate)
news user seems to be convenience. It seems that users will be able to move swiftly between websites, conducting their business with less effort. The Liberty Alliance Project comprises of over 60 consumer and technology organizations that are dedicated to developing and deploying open federated network identification specifications that support all current and emerging network devices in the digital economy. Members include American Express, General Motors, Nokia, RSA Security, United Airlines, Sun Microsystems and others. The 1.0 specification is based on the SAML 1.0 standard. The SAML standard is set to lead the way for Web services and has many supporters who are building SAML authorization capabilities into their products including RSA Security, IBM/Tivoli and Novell, among others. Criticism of the Alliance expresses privacy and security concerns. Some commentators feel that the companies involved in the alliance will exploit user confidential details for marketing purposes. Security is a concern issue because the specification is new and theoretical, not yet tested in the world of E-commerce.
internet News
Internet fraud — still hitting the finance industry Experian released a survey investigating Internet fraud in the UK in July. Retailers and finance providers were interviewed in depth.
The survey revealed that three-quarters of finance providers use automated fraud prevention systems to thwart fraud. The automated fraud prevention systems implemented are as follows: • CIFAS (53%) • National Hunter (MCL) (47%) • In-house system (41%) • Detect (Experian) 35% • Local Hunter (MCL) 24% 67% of online applications for financial products are automatically transferred into application processing systems while 33% are captured and then re-keyed into an application processing system. The most common types of fraud in the UK are as follows in order of importance: • • • • •
Stolen credit cards (77%) Identity theft (43%) Card generators (33%) Stolen checks (3%) Account hijacking (3%)
Retailers have stated that the use of stolen credit cards is so abundant because they are easily available, difficult to detect and easy to steal. The New York Times recently reported that credit cards are available to buy on a number of websites. Identity theft is also common because there is no available way to detect it yet and it is likely to succeed.
Misuse News
Workplace Web surfers facing dismissal Internet misconduct in the workplace is being
decisively dealt with in the UK as a quarter of UK companies have dismissed employees for this abuse, with nearly 70%, associated with Internet pornography as revealed by a survey released by Websense International. The survey was conducted with 544 human resource (HR) managers from some of the UK's largest corporations (with an average of 2500 employees). It was revealed that 72% of UK companies have dealt with Internet misconduct in the work environment and most of this attention was directed at online pornography abuse resulting in 69% of sackings in the UK. This has been reiterated in the recent HP case, where reports from The Register, state that HP has suspended more than 100 employees on full pay while an investigation takes place about the circulation of inappropriate material. HP has confirmed in a statement that "it is currently investigating the misuse of the company email system that contravenes its internal policy for all employees. HP takes any allegation of the misuse of corporate resources extremely seriously and has acted swiftly to initiate an internal investigation." After pornography, Web chat rooms (26%), and personal email browsing (23%) were the most common complaints that HR departments had to deal with. HR departments have also received complaints from discontented colleagues, complaining
about their co-worker's Internet antics. It has also been brought to light that dismissals for Internet porn are covered up. While Internet misuse in the UK is obviously a common problem, it is rarely openly discussed in the public limelight. The survey found that HR managers are caught up in an average of one complaint every month. Most prefer to deal with the problem by having a quiet word with the person in question (56%), followed by a verbal warning (29%). Nearly a quarter of the HR managers (23%) result to dismissing the employee in question. "Dismissing an employee for Internet misuse is a substantial cost to the employer", said Jonathon Naylor, barrister in the Employment, Pensions and Benefits Group of the Morgan Cole Law Firm. "While there are the obvious costs of advertising for new hires, recruitment, training and supervision, there are also additional financial burdens caused by the interruption of work patterns, the damage to morale and the negative publicity to the organization as a result of the dismissal." It becomes very clear through the survey that Internet misconduct is not just an IT issue and that the HR department is very much involved. The HR managers in the survey felt that 20 minutes a day was sufficient for employee personal Internet use, but commented that the reality was more like 30 minutes a day. 3