Illegal file-sharing still 'widespread' on UK corporate networks

UK firms are still allowing widespread illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing on their corporate networks despite the threat of legal action from record companies and the security risk it poses.

The findings are revealed in a survey of 500 UK IT managers and HR officers by web and email filtering software company SurfControl.

Two-thirds of those surveyed claim their organisation takes P2P file-sharing seriously. But when questioned further, half of the HR officers admit they don't have a policy on file-sharing in the workplace, while another 23 per cent don't even know if they have a policy on it at all.

The results are worrying given that over a third of employees in a separate survey last week said they use applications such as Kazaa and Gnutella at work.

Martino Corbelli, director of marketing at SurfControl, said there is a gap between what IT and HR think is covered and what is actually covered, which is made worse by the fact that a lot of P2P content is illegal and in breach of copyright.

"If you don't have a policy in place, taking action against that person is very difficult. If you want to be secure then put something in place to stop the abuse in the first place," he said. "The same rules for web and email use apply to instant messaging and file-sharing. They open up massive security holes and can be a drain on staff productivity along with the legal liability issues."

Half of the IT managers in the survey also said they do not have any security measures in place to stop file-sharing.

Another issue is that anecdotal evidence suggests it is often the IT department and IT staff who most use file-sharing applications at work. "It's another reason why HR needs to be more involved," said Corbelli.

Roger Hockaday, director of marketing at network management company Packeteer backed up the findings.

"Our experience is that most network managers are more concerned with worms, viruses, streaming media and IM than P2P file-sharing. However, the reality is that most network managers do not know if it even exists on their networks," he said.