£1.5bn: The cost of web and email abuse to SMEs

UK small businesses are losing £1.5bn per year to their employees' email and web abuse.

In fact SMEs (small-to-medium-sized enterprises) are paying staff for around 343 million wasted hours spent online or sending personal emails - representing a 15 per cent dent in their potential profits.

Research from the Cranfield School of Management revealed that UK businesses are picking up the bill for a workforce of cyberloafers, and yet despite the finding the research also revealed a lack of concern about the problem.

Of those companies surveyed, only 20 per cent said they were worried about email misuse within their offices - putting it below issues such as marketing, overheads, recruitment, insurance and cash flow in their list of priorities.

Only 73 per cent of firms say they have an email policy, while only 75 per cent use any kind of email monitoring facility - despite the very real legal and business risks posed by their staff's email and web use.

There are also a few surprises in terms of what companies are looking for when they monitor employees' email habits.

Only 11 per cent of companies said they look for emails being sent to recruitment firms by want-away staff, while only 15 per cent said they monitor emails sent to competitors - even though the repercussions of leaked documents or company secrets could be highly damaging.

Seventy-four per cent of companies monitoring staff emails said they are looking for content of a sexual nature. Similarly, 72 per cent are looking for abusive emails.

Bandwidth is also an issue, with companies monitoring mail servers for any large attachments being sent or received.

The general picture is one of a fairly relaxed approach to time-wasting in the office. Only 28 per cent of companies forbid any email or web use which isn't work-related - while 62 per cent of companies said they would tolerate email and web use as long as it is not offensive or illegal.

Companies are slowly waking up to the fact that they are liable for the content of their networks. US companies were last week warned by the Recording Industry Association of America that the buck stops with the CEO for any illegally traded MP3s which breach copyright (see http://www.silicon.com/a56116 for more).

Similarly it is often the company's reputation which can be damaged by embarrassing emails, as seen with the infamous Claire Swire email which was traced back to London law firm Norton Rose.