Are social networks to blame for viruses running on company computers? The Maryland General Assembly has completely blocked social networks Facebook and MySpace from the computers of state legislators and their staffs, citing an increase in viruses and malware that are affecting the computers of the Maryland General Assembly, according to New Line. Michael Gaudiello, who is the Office of Legislative Information Systems Director, sent out a memorandum telling the staff of the new 2009 policy.
It seems a bit strange that the social networks themselves are to blame for malware, but the memo states that weeks of analysis concludes that many of the infecting programs are originating from pages hosted on Facebook and MySpace. So to decrease the number of viruses affecting the machines of the Maryland General Assembly facilities, both Facebook and MySpace have simply been blocked all together.
Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt, however, responded to the New Line by saying that the memo “incorrectly asserts that viruses are on Facebook” and goes on to suggest that the Maryland General Assembly machines may need more up to date browsers. Some up to date spyware protection on the machines could be helpful as well.
MySpace, Facebook and a number of other socially oriented web services are often the targets of phishing scams and the spreading of malware, but there are a number of ways to get around the issue if users are made aware of potential risks and machines are equipped with the right programs to prevent detrimental consequences of malware. Which makes Maryland’s response to the malware problem seem extreme and maybe even biased.
When MySpace and Facebook began to rise in popularity we saw many offices banning access to the social networks, namely to curb counterproductivity and strain on bandwidth usage. Could either of these more common reasons be contributing to the Maryland General Assembly’s decision to block the social networks all together?
It’s especially disheartening to see the Maryland General Assembly blocking these social networks as sites like Facebook have become great ways in which colleagues can keep in touch with each other, and offices like the General Assembly can reach out to others outside of their internal office. Whether for brand building, information dissemination or increased transparency, many offices, government and otherwise, have taken to Facebook for these reasons, and dealing with legal restrictions around access to and use of these sites is often a reflection of cultural acceptance (or lack thereof) within the work environment.
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My research documents reports of the Koobface worm infecting (or attempting to infect) workplace-related computers by way of Facebook. Employers thus have security as a reason to block social network sites. http://computersafety.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/security-threat-facebook-and-myspace-at-work/ –Ben
Comment by Benjamin Wright — February 7, 2009 @ 11:30 am
Seen it all before . . . personal computers = not allowed, cell phones = not allowed, IM = not allowed, blogging = not allowed, email = not allowed, web access = not allowed, etc. etc.
Mostly for the same reasons:
1. costs,
2. security threat,
3. impact to productivity,
4. any or all of the above.
Instead of finding ways to make it work it's easier to ban it expecting that an executive edict will make it go away. It's to bad that technology and occasionally the IT department becomes the scapegoat for implementing policies that are more related to questionable (and weak) workplace management skills. But as history has shown us – people will find ways to bring technology to the workplace – and make it a work.
Comment by Dean K Owen — February 8, 2009 @ 8:51 am
Thus speaks the voice of the lazy generation. You are at work, not play, too right you should not be on the internet chatting or sending text messages except on breaks, and if you have to, then you should be using your own equipment. I agree, it should be banned in all work places unless you are using it for work and are part of the marketing department. However have tried to conatct facebook for marketing and advertising without any response from its own contact pages, so I personally won't be spending any of the company money on an unreliable system in any event. Suck it up ladies and get back to work.
Comment by arch — March 4, 2009 @ 11:50 am
Speaking covertly for a gov't IT dept…
I agree it would be nice if we could update our browsers and computers so we could run various forms of malware blockers, virusscan programs, and all kinds of security programs. However, we have computers that are between 5 to 9 years old and are lucky to run virusscan and excel at the same time. So, its more economical to just block sites that might be risky rather than replace computers, buy more security programs and then pay yearly maintenance for those added security programs.
These things come at a price which means tax increases and no one wants that. So, we do what can.
Comment by Cathy Schneller — April 7, 2009 @ 4:48 pm
I still find it fascinating that the legislature of Maryland allowed itself to have terms dictated to it by a low level aid in the Office of Legislative Information Systems Director who does not even have the legal authority to block state congressional leaders from accessing internet websites.
Comment by Chuck P — September 24, 2009 @ 9:10 pm