Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Social Networking Exploding in Enterprise Networks

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 11/10/09

Social networking and digitally based collaboration are consuming networks. For example, Twitter usage has grown more than 250 percent and Facebook usage by 192 percent in the last six months, according to a research project by firewall vendor Palo Alto Networks. Facebook Chat, released in April 2008, is the fourth most common chat application found on enterprise networks, ahead of Yahoo IM and AIM. Blogging and wiki editing have increased by a factor of 39, while total bandwidth consumed increased by a factor of 48. Also, SharePoint collaboration is becoming much more common; according to the research, bandwidth consumed by the documents component of SharePoint has increased 17-fold from comparable research reported in April.

These results come from the "Application Usage and Risk Report," an analysis of application usage on enterprise networks in 200-plus organizations around the world in sectors that include education, financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, government, and retail. This research is unique in that, unlike surveys that evaluate results based on voluntary responses from participants, this one summarizes actual network traffic assessments performed between March and September 2009.

The challenge of the explosive growth of new forms of applications, as the company pointed out, is that many can expose the organization's network to new forms of risks. The analysis discovered 255 "enterprise 2.0" applications--of which 70 percent are capable of transferring files, 64 percent have known vulnerabilities, 28 percent are known to propagate malware, and 16 percent can tunnel other applications. Koobface, Fbaction, and Boface are all new forms of malware that run in applications such as Facebook to hijack accounts and personal data.

"We know that workers are using these applications to help them get their jobs done, with or without approval from their IT departments. And now we know this is happening much faster than anticipated. It's naïve to think that old-school security practices can handle this deluge," said Rene Bonvanie, vice president of worldwide marketing. "Organizations must realize that banning or allowing specific applications in a black-and-white fashion is bad for business. They need a new approach that allows for shades of gray by enforcing appropriate application usage policies tailored for their workforce. This is a radical and necessary shift for today's IT security professionals."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • elementary schoolchildren using digital tablet in classroom

    CoSN: 3 Principles that Should Guide Screen Time Policies in Schools

    CoSN, the professional association for K-12 education technology leaders, has released new guidance to help schools navigate the screen time debate and develop technology policies that protect students while supporting learning.

  • Students using laptops in classroom

    Stop Asking Whether Students Can Use AI

    As generative AI has become embedded in the tools students use to search, write, create, translate, organize, and receive feedback, the boundary between "using AI" and "not using AI" has become increasingly difficult to define. More importantly, treating AI use as a binary choice does little to help students understand the different roles AI can appropriately play in learning.

  • Girl playing video games

    5 Lessons Video Game Designers Can Teach Educators About Learning

    Video game designers spend an enormous amount of time studying what keeps people engaged when something becomes difficult. They have become very good at helping people persist. Schools should pay attention.

  • education funding and graduation symbols on wooden dice

    What Is the Education Freedom Tax Credit and How Will It Work?

    The federal Education Freedom Tax Credit (EFTC) is a new source of funding for education that could benefit 90% of students in states that have opted in to the program. However, some confusion and misconceptions exist surrounding details of the program, including which programs may qualify, how parents can apply for scholarships, and how public school students can benefit.