Evolving Workplace Computing Trends Revealed in Websenseís Fifth Annual Web@Work Survey

Websense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN), the worldís leading provider of employee Internet management (EIM) software, today announced the results of its 2004 Web@Work study, the companyís annual survey conducted by Harris Interactive. Last month 500 employees and 350 IT managers of organizations with at least 100 employees were polled on their Web and software application usage in the workplace.

According to the Web@Work 2004 survey, employees polled indicated that surfing the Internet at work is as important as their morning coffee. However, as the line between personal and business-related usage of the Web is increasingly blurred, the survey also reveals a startling discrepancy between what employees actually admit to doing at work versus IT managersí perception of what is actually occurring in their corporate networks. For example, employees only admit to spending two hours per week surfing the Web for personal reasons, but IT managers believe that number to be more than six hours a week. Similarly, while only two percent of employees admitted to accessing online hacking tools at work, one third of IT managers said they have had an employee launch a hacking tool within their network.

In addition, the survey also exposed the fact that many IT managers are either not aware of, or do not fully understand the risks presented by new emerging Internet threats such as spyware, unsanctioned instant messaging, peer-to-peer file sharing and Web-based viruses such as MyDoom. For example, nearly 95 percent of IT managers said they are confident that their companyís current antivirus software is able to stop viruses from attacking their companyís network, yet two-thirds reported that their organizations were infected by a Web-based virus.

Web@Work 2004 Survey Results:

Coffee Versus the Internetówhen asked if they would rather give up their morning coffee or their ability to use the Internet at work for personal reasons, employees surveyed were splitó49 percent said they would rather give up their morning coffee, while 46 percent said they would give up their Internet access.

Personal Surfingóof those who use the Internet at work, 51 percent of employees said they spend between one and five hours per week surfing the Internet at work for personal reasons, an average of 2 hours per week. However, when IT managers were asked how much time they think the average employee spends accessing non-work related Web sites at work, they estimated just over six hours per week.

Employee Hacking Toolsówhile only two percent of employees with access to the Internet said they have accessed online hacking tools at work, one-third of IT managers (34 percent) said an employee has launched a hacking tool within their network.

Effectiveness of Antivirusónearly 95 percent of IT managers said they are confident that their companyís current antivirus software is able to stop viruses from attacking their companyís network, yet two-thirds (66 percent) reported their companies have been infected by a Web-based virus such as Nimda or MyDoom, as compared to only 45 percent in 2003.

Spyware-only six percent of employees who access the Internet at work said they have ever visited any Web sites that contain spyware; however, 92 percent of IT managers estimate that their organization has been infected by spyware at some point. Of those who acknowledged that they had a spyware infection, an average of 29 percent of their workstations have been infected, and 40 percent of IT managers indicated the number of spyware-infected workstations at their organization has increased.

Instant Messagingóapproximately 17 percent of employees admit to using instant messaging (IM) at work; and of those who use IM, 37 percent have either sent or received file attachments via IM while at work. Interestingly enough, almost two-thirds (64 percent) of companies do not have corporate-sanctioned instant messaging, according to IT managers.

MP3 Files/ Peer-to-Peer File Sharingó84 percent of all employees believe that downloading copyrighted content from peer-to-peer file-sharing Web sites, such as Kazaa or Grokster, while at work is unethical.

Pornographyómore men than women view pornography at work. Whether it was by accident or on purpose, 22 percent of male employees said they had visited a porn site while at work, while only 12 percent of women had done so. Of those that admitted to viewing pornography sites at work, 13 percent of the men admitted it was intentional. Of the women that indicated they had visited a porn site at work, all of them said it was unintentional.

Streaming Mediaó21 percent of employees said they use streaming media to do such things as listen to Internet radio or watch live news casts via the Web. Only six percent of respondents admitted to ever downloading and storing any non-work related video clips or movie clips on to their work computer. However, IT managers estimate that 10 percent of their companyís total disk space is taken up by non-work related files, such as mp3 files, photos, and movies.

Faster Connection at Workóalmost three-quarters (73 percent) of employees surveyed have access to a high-speed Internet connection at work, while only approximately a third have a high-speed connection at home. Being able to surf non-work related Web sites, play games and view streaming media during the work day continues to be an attractive proposition for employees, especially as Web content becomes richerórequiring more bandwidth.

Web Sites Accessedó the most popular types of non-work related Web sites that employees access at work are news (84 percent), travel (64 percent), personal email (56 percent), shopping (55 percent), and online banking (53 percent).

Gender differencesó men tend to engage more in personal surfing at work than women. 64 percent of men admitted to accessing non-work related Web sites during work hours versus 55 percent of women. Furthermore, men are two times more likely than women to visit chat rooms or message boards during work hours, and they are also two times more likely than women to visit mp3 sites. Men are also over three times more likely than women to visit sports sites during working hours.