3 Things IT Managers Should be Wary of During Olympics 2012

 Coverage of previous Olympics was followed mainly through TV and Print, but because of the explosion of mobile technology over the last few years, there are now endless ways to follow the 2012 London Olympics. Since the fever has caught hold in the office space as well, we won't be surprised to spot colleagues secretly streaming the Olympics on their systems or following reports on their smartphones. While this may seem harmless enough, apart from affecting productivity, there are several dangers that it poses to the company's network. We will list some of the dangers below, and how to tackle them:

1. Consumption of Bandwidth. Imagine if 20 of your employees are simultaneously streaming the Olympics to their workstations. This will take up massive amounts of bandwidth on the company network, which will slow down the rest of the systems utilizing the network as well. There are many websites to watch the live streaming from, including YouTube as well as several other unofficial host sites. In a small company, this loss of bandwidth could cause a great loss in productivity.

2. Viruses, Malware, Trojans: These threats are highly likely because of the spike in hackers uploading malicious content around the time of a big occasion like this. For example, the hackers may post some “legitimate”- looking websites, which desperate Olympics fans may click on to follow a video stream. These sites may install all kinds of Malware and Trojans on the system, which could spread over the corporate network to other critical workstations!

3. Protect your Mobile Devices! Cyber security risks are not confined to desktops anymore. Employees should be beware of third party applications which pose as “Official” apps to follow the Olympics. This is especially dangerous if your company uses a BYOD policy, as confidential corporate information stored can easily be compromised by these apps, which retain permissions to access data on your device.

Fortunately though, these threats can be mitigated without causing disruption in the office. The basic remedy will be to install a top-grade firewall within the network so that harmful Trojans and Malware cannot seep into the network. Also, strong web filters have to be applied so that malicious sites are blocked from access. However, permissions still need to be granted to employees who need access to certain sites for business purposes. Companies with a bigger budget can also install network monitoring software, that will provide 24/7 monitoring of data traffic and detect any intrusion into the network. With these kind of measures in place, companies can curb these threats and ensure that their networks are safe and sound.