Twenty-two percent of male employees said they had visited a porn site while at work, while only 12 percent of women had done so, according to Websense, a San Diego-based provider of employee Internet management solutions.
Of those who admitted to viewing pornography sites at work, 13 percent of the men admitted it was intentional, according to the survey. Of the women who indicated they had visited a porn site at work, all of them said it was unintentional.
The Web@Work 2004 survey also indicated that employees see surfing the Internet at work is as important as their morning coffee. Of those polled, 49 percent said they would rather give up their morning coffee, while 46 percent said they would give up their Internet access.
The survey also said that the line between personal and business-related usage of the web is increasingly blurred. In the study, employees only admitted to spending two hours per week surfing the web for personal reasons, but IT managers polled 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.
The study found that many IT managers are either not aware of, or do not fully understand the risks presented by spyware, unsanctioned instant messaging, peer-to-peer file sharing and web-based viruses. Nearly 95 percent of IT managers said they are confident that their company's current antivirus software is able to stop viruses from attacking their networks, yet two-thirds reported their businesses were infected by a virus.
Websense’s 2004 Web@Work study, conducted by market research firm Harris Interactive, surveyed 500 employees and 350 IT managers of organizations with at least 100 employees who were polled on their web and software application usage in the workplace. The poll was conducted last month.