Should software be used to monitor networks for blogging activity?

Should software be used to monitor networks for blogging activity?

Should network-monitoring software be used to monitor corporate networks for blogging activity? Should enterprises focus their monitoring priorities elsewhere?

    Requires Free Membership to View

    SearchSecurity.com members gain immediate and unlimited access to breaking industry news, virus alerts, new hacker threats, highly focused security newsletters, and more -- all at no cost. Join me on SearchSecurity.com today!

    Michael S. Mimoso, Editorial Director

    By submitting your registration information to SearchSecurity.com you agree to receive email communications from TechTarget and TechTarget partners. We encourage you to read our Privacy Policy which contains important disclosures about how we collect and use your registration and other information. If you reside outside of the United States, by submitting this registration information you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Your use of SearchSecurity.com is governed by our Terms of Use. You may contact us at webmaster@TechTarget.com.

This is really more of a policy question than a security one. It's all boils down to risk management. If you, in conjunction with the leadership of your organization, feel that blogging poses a significant risk to your company, you may wish to consider using this type of control.

If the objective is to restrict blogging activity, network-monitoring software probably isn't the most efficient way to do so. I'd recommend implementing a content-filtering product, such as Secure Computing Corp.'s Webwasher SME250 or Websense Inc.'s Hosted Web Security tool. These products come with built-in Web categorization databases that help monitor certain types of unwanted traffic, such as blogging sites, pornography, etc.

If you choose to implement content filtering, a word of warning: no filtering scheme is perfect, and it's difficult to defeat someone who is determined to bypass such filtering. For example, if you allow users to access secure websites using HTTPS, it won't be possible to inspect the contents of their encrypted traffic. Bypassers could set up an encrypted proxy at home and use it to route traffic elsewhere on the Internet. Also, while content filtering databases may contain well-known blogging sites, such as Blogger and Wordpress, they can't possibly track all of the little-known single blog sites out there on the Internet. You can build a wall if you like, but it's going to be made of Swiss cheese.

More information:

  • See how blogging on corporate laptops is risky business.
  • SearchSecurity.com editors debate whether blogging is a security threat to corporate systems.
  • This was first published in December 2008

    Join the conversationComment

    Share
    Comments

      Results

      Contribute to the conversation

      All fields are required. Comments will appear at the bottom of the article.