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Numbers Count

Here are just a few of the numerous studies and reports detailing how extensive the problem of improper Internet usage has become:

  • An IDC Research/Harris Interactive poll reports that the average employee spends more than 8.3 hours a week on non-work-related Internet use. (Honolulu Star Bulletin, 8/10/03)
     
  • A comScore Media Metrix analysis revealed that 7.9 million at-work Internet users visited Personals Web sites in December 2002, accounting for 35 percent of all time spent at these sites. (ComScore Networks, Feb 2003 www.comscore.com)
     
  • Computer Crime and Security Survey 2002 reported among 503 companies surveyed, 78% detected employee abuse of Internet access privileges (for example, downloading pornography or pirated software, or inappropriate use of e-mail systems). (Computer Security Institute, 4/07/02)
     
  • A survey of 571 users revealed an average of 5.8 hours of internet abuse per user, per week, on average. Data were collected from 571 Usenet users in an on-line survey. (Galleta and Polak, Methods of Internet abuse An Empirical Investigation of Antecedents of Internet Abuse in the Workplace; Second Annual Workshop on HCI Research in MIS, Seattle, WA, December 12-13, 2003)
     
  • Nearly a quarter of French employees with Internet access, spend more than one hour each day using the Net for personal use (Europemedia: 9/11/02)
     
  • The 2002 National Technology Readiness Survey (NTRS) found that 85 percent of survey participants with online Web access at work spent an average of 3.7 hours per week engaged in personal online activities while on the job. (Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland College Park, Md. – 2/4/03)
     
  • A University of Maryland study estimated that employees spend between 3.7 and 6.5 hours per work week on personal Net use. (Colby, C. and Parasuraman, A. (2002) "The 2002 National Technology Readiness Survey," University of Maryland Center for E-Service, http://oldwww.rhsmith.umd.edu/ntrs2002/)
     
  • Research for the UK magazine Personnel Today and consultants KLegal revealed that employers have taken disciplinary action on more occasions in the past year against staff for misusing the Web than for dishonesty, violence and health and safety breaches combined. The survey of 212 companies of 50 staff upwards found that there were 358 disciplinary cases for Internet and e-mail abuse compared to a combined total of 326 cases for the other three categories. It reveals that the most common cyber crimes were excessive personal use of the Internet, sending pornographic e-mails and accessing pornographic Web sites. The research showed the majority of employers are facing problems tackling the issue, despite 93 per cent of employers having policies on Web misuse. The survey found that nearly two thirds of e-mail and Internet related dismissals (38 out of 61) and half of the disciplinary cases (169 out of 358) were for accessing or distributing pornographic material. (CNN.com 9/3/02)
     
  • Robert D. Whitty, Barnstable, MA's director of assessing, was arrested at town hall last Thursday on charges of possession and dissemination of child pornography. Police spokesman Sgt. Sean Sweeney said that Whitty went peacefully and without incident. The investigation began when an employee from the town's information systems office "stumbled across" pornographic files on the computer assigned to Whitty while performing routine upgrades to all computers within the assessing department. To gain access to Whitty's computer, all of the computers in the assessing office were taken out, not to raise suspicions. (Barnstable Patriot, 4/12/02)
     
  • Two years after a study showed Internal Revenue Service employees spent more than half their workday on the Internet for personal use, investigators have found that there continues to be "significant misuse" of the Internet at the agency. The Associated Press reports that investigators from the Treasury Department found that IRS employees accessed prohibited websites for personal email, games and sexually explicit material. "Nobody should collect a government salary to sit on their behinds and play around in chat rooms," says Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who oversees the Treasury Department and IRS. Lawmakers urged the IRS to crack down on inappropriate use of the Internet following the study in 2001. The IRS said it would continue to fire employees who are caught accessing websites with sexually explicit material. (Associated Press, via CNN.com 6/23/03)
     
  • Librarians sue over being subjected to Internet porn. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A barrage of Internet pornography has turned the downtown library into a hostile work environment for a dozen librarians, according to claims in a new federal lawsuit. The 12 sued the city library system Monday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, alleging they endured an intimidating, hostile and offensive workplace that violated state and federal law. The lawsuit seeks damages of at least $400,000 each, plus workplace changes. (The Associated Press. 3/26/03)
     
  • The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) earlier this month fired 17 workers for surfing pornography sites during business hours. In addition, the agency fired eight contract workers and suspended 61 others for two weeks without pay, for excessive use of the Internet, not including accessing sexually explicit sites, according to VDOT spokeswoman Tamara Neale. Neale said the department's internal auditor began monitoring employees' use of the Internet during work hours after several workers complained that one worker spending too much time surfing the Internet and not enough time working. According to Neale, the first internal audit, which was done during the week of April 8, identified 86 employees out of the agency's 10,000 workers who were online at non-work-related sites for two or more hours on one day during that week. ( COMPUTERWORLD, 10/28/02)
     
  • Online gambling leads one woman to prison. A Cass County woman is currently in jail because of her addiction to online gambling. The need for the quick fix forced her to break the law by tapping into her boss's bank account. The courts convicted the 31-year-old of embezzling $65,000 from work throwing a small company into the verge of bankruptcy. Said the woman, "I think it's actually more dangerous than going to a casino. Search the Internet and you'll find 1800 online gambling sites at your fingertips. It never seemed real to me. It was always all on the computer. The money never actually touched my hand." The promising pop-up ads drew her to play poker online with a credit card and an online bank account. She gambled at home and work at all hours of the day. After blowing her savings account, which contained approximately $30,000, she proceeded to max out her credit cards. She decided to break into her boss's bank account to get more money. As a secretary at a small company of three the money was only a keystroke away. She didn't realize how far she had gone until the courts charged her with stealing $65,000 from her boss. Experts predict online gambling sites will rake in more than $5 billion this year alone. (WNDU-TV, Cass County, IN 11/20/03)
     
  • Police from 34 forces raided more than 70 homes and work places across the country yesterday in one of Britain's biggest ever operations against pedophiles who use internet chatrooms to swap pornographic images of children. (The Guardian, April 25, 2002 )