The majority of UK employees regularly use their computer at work for online shopping or planning leisure activities, with over a fifth streaming Netflix or BBC iPlayer shows.
This is according to Aura Technology, a strategic IT firm that found 90 per cent of workers use their computer at work for online shopping or plan leisure activities. With 21 per cent saying they stream a Netflix or iPlayer show.
Under half (43 per cent) said they go on social media and 12 per cent said they use sites such as Match.com to go online dating. Over a third (36 per cent) said they look for new job opportunities.
The computer as well as providing a good distraction has also led to some mistakes as 49 per cent of UK employees have clicked or opened a link that contains a virus. Awkwardly, 15 per cent have accidentally emailed a message about a colleague to that colleague.
As well as, 40 per cent saying they sent messages to colleagues to friends or partners that their boss would disapprove of and 8 per cent said they have tried to gain access to their company’s secure servers.
Tim Walker, managing director at Aura Technology said:
Considering the poll’s results, some employers may also want to review their policies on internal communications and how employees are permitted to use their work PCs for personal use.
It’s concerning that so many workers are opening email attachments or visiting sites that could cause a virus, malware or ransomware. Good firewalls and antivirus software should prevent many of these attacks, however they can’t stop every virus, ‘invisible’ malware attacks or ransomware where employees unwittingly download ‘trojan horse’ files. Our advice to workers is to make sure that they regularly update their antivirus software and to think twice before opening an attachment or visiting an unknown site.
Aura Technology surveyed 2,000 UK office workers to gather these results.
Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.
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