To Block or Not to Block: the Compliance Issue for Employers on Cyber Monday

Why you should add a compliance policy to your shopping cart

Thanksgiving, we traditionally associate the holiday with family, friends and food. However, in recent years it has also become synonymous with sales thanks to the popularity of Black Friday. The annual event, offering customers unmissable discounts on almost all purchases, has spread from the US to the rest of the world. It no longer just a single day but a week of special offers from most brands and retailers. One day in particular that has greatly increased in popularity is Cyber Monday.

Many shoppers are now choosing to avoid the infamous Black Friday stampedes and overnight queues in favor of online shopping. However, what does this mean for employers? Should they be concerned about their workers spending all day Monday glued to their smartphones chasing these must-have deals? Or, should they consider restricting all access to shopping sites? And as a broader compliance issue, should employers have the power to control the content that employees can and cannot access on work-issued mobile devices?

Employers’ Hesitation

Many employers may be hesitant to restrict or outright block access to online shopping sites for employees. They may not want to be seen as a killjoy or overly strict, especially around the holiday season. Or, maybe they do not feel comfortable restricting what content employees can or cannot access on their mobile devices. This often comes down to the widespread opinion that mobile devices are inherently personal.

In most workplaces, employees accept that their employer may monitor activity on a corporate-owned desktop device. However, when it comes to mobile devices, there is often a completely different attitude and set of expectations. This view is in great need of an update. In many cases today, employees use mobile devices for a mixture of personal and professional tasks. With more and more businesses evolving into ‘mobile workplaces’, productivity, sensitive data, and company reputation could all be at risk without proper controls and compliance policies in place.

Possible Risks

Productivity and safety has become a main concern for many employees when it comes to mobile phone usage at work. In professions where the employee’s full attention is needed i.e. driving or operating machinery, a mobile device can be major distraction. Social media, gaming, video streaming, and online shopping can have an extreme impact on both the productivity and the safety of the employee should they be unable to provide their full attention to the task at hand.

In the case of field-based or customer-facing employees, unrestricted access to the internet could have disastrous results on both the quality of service provided and the reputation of the business should inappropriate content be accessed, either accidentally or deliberately. Therefore, employers should not feel uncomfortable about enforcing acceptable use policies on their employees’ mobile usage. As enterprise mobility increases rapidly, so too does the necessity for restrictions and compliance around mobile usage. Online shopping is only one of many categories that employers are quick to block.

Security Risks

There are also security risks to allowing employees unrestricted access to services such as online shopping. In 2017 it was reported that cyber attacks had increased by 45% from the previous year. Thousands on online shoppers have been targeted with banking trojans that infect devices with malware and phishing campaigns. Many of these attacks have occurred on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. And with attempts to defraud customers predicted to surge by over 14% during this year’s festivities while shoppers are expected to generate over $7.8 billion in online sales, protection and control will be crucial.

Corrata’s solution

Corrata’s unique Mobile Internet Security solution provides organizations with the ability to not just protect against potential cyber attacks, but also to ensure compliance with acceptable use policies to reduce risks to productivity, safety, and reputation. Corrata gives employers the power to decide which categories and specific sites their employees can on their mobile device. Blacklists and whitelists can be customized and configured to suit the company’s needs.

This festive season employers should no longer feel uncomfortable or guilty for managing employee access in order to protect corporate data or productivity. And without infringing on employee user experience or privacy by ensuring all data is processed on-device, Corrata gives the organization the ability to do so.

To find out more visit www.corrata.com or email us at info@corrata.com.

And for more industry news, insights, and analysis – follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn!