Betting Sports Forum: Online March Madness May Boost Morale at Work

Betting Sports Forum: Online March Madness May Boost Morale at Work

SAN DIEGO, CA - As hoops fans and businesses prepare for the March Madness season, Websense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN), a leader in secure Web gateway technology, recently reported double-digit increases in the number of sports and gambling web sites from a year ago, as well as a trend among attackers to use major events like March Madness to spread information-stealing malware through the Web and email.
"March Madness is an annual event that sparks management discussion about work-life balance and often puts a burden on IT to maintain business-as-usual status," said TotalTech President Ken Hamilton. "Even for companies that allow or encourage participation online during these events, having visibility and control of Internet use is critical to security. Bandwidth is also a critical concern as businesses need to ensure the network is not taxed to the point that it interferes with daily operations and business goals."
Sports fans across the country were on the edge of their seats last Sunday as the NCAA chose the top men's college basketball teams that make the coveted March Madness tournament. The next day, business managers and IT staff were on the edge of their seats, dealing with throngs of employees who use company resources to enter online office pools, blog about the top seeds, and watch live streaming games that take place throughout March and early April. Even with these risks, many companies allow some type of access at work.
"Many employees are working long hours, often beyond the traditional work day, into the night, at their homes and even on vacations," said Websense Chief Operating Officer Doug Wride. "Employee 2.0 -- the employee whose work and personal lives are consistently blurred -- has changed the way many companies approach personal Web use at the office. Companies want the flexibility to manage network security, productivity and bandwidth but in a way that matches their corporate culture and considers hours put in off the clock."
Organizations should consider the following trends and statistics:
-- Trend among attackers to target major sporting events -- Major sporting events' Web sites are attractive to online criminals. Attackers have recently exploited the Super Bowl, Olympics and the World Cup sites. This trend, coupled with the immense popularity of March Madness, presents a risk for organizations that are not properly protected from information-stealing malicious code, spyware and other Web and e-mail threats. Even "good" sites aren't immune: in the second half of 2008 more than 77 percent of the Web sites Websense classified as malicious were actually sites with seemingly "good" reputations that had been compromised by attackers. Additionally, many sites feature Web 2.0 capabilities, allowing anyone to post user-generated content in blogs, forums and wikis, giving attackers a place to embed links to malicious Web sites and other unwanted content.
-- 23.9 percent growth in sports-related Web sites -- Since March of 2008, sports-related Web sites have grown almost one fourth, with many offering real-time game scores, player statistics and up-to-the-minute analysis. With the massive number of sports Web sites and streaming games available, mid-sized companies can expect to see a considerable drain on employee productivity and network bandwidth during the NCAA Tournament.
-- 23.7 percent growth in gambling Web sites -- Since March of 2008, gambling-related Web sites have also grown almost a quarter, creating another issue for organizations during high profile sporting events. These gambling Web sites, coupled with the wagering attraction of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, introduce additional productivity issues that often violate organizations' Internet use policies.

Betting Sports Forum: Online March Madness May Boost Morale at Work