Security Policy on Social Networking Sites

Social Networking sites present some unique challenges for organizations that must attract and keep young workers. Is the use of social networking sites at work a necessary perk or an unacceptable risk to corporate information? Some argue that organizations must allow access to social networking and other Web 2.0 sites to help attract a more "fickly" twenty-something workforce that are used to life online. Others say that the risks are simply too great, both in terms of wasted time and potential for infected computers.

The Fall 2007 issue of the security awareness newsletter Protecting Information covers the most common risks of social networking sites. In the issue Rebecca Herold describes several incidents where employees were terminated based on content posted on their personal pages on various social networking sites. Clearly this issue is going to grow as fast as the number of people that use social networking sites - now estimated at over 200 million.

Does your organization block social networking sites? Is social networking addressed within your information security policies? What are some of the concerns that you feel should be addressed in policy?