A third of British companies block social media

Nearly a third of British companies are now blocking access to social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter at work, according to a survey.

In the last year, the proportion of businesses restricting access to the services on the basis of security concerns has more than trebled, it found.

In 2010 only 9 per cent of British companies had social networking bans in place, compared to 32 per cent now.

According to Clearswift, the security firm that carried out the survey, a series of high-profile hacking incidents such as the recent attacks on Sony has driven concern among managers that employees could leak data or be tricked into downloading computer viruses.

"The big challenge for organisations is that public and private use of social networking sites has blurred," said Mr Jonathan Wyatt, managing director of Protiviti, a consultancy firm.

"On one hand, employees are using social networking tools for managing activities in their private life - but accessing these tools from corporate systems. On the other hand, employees are being asked to carry out specific tasks relating to work via the same social networks."

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