A study published today suggests that British companies are suffering from what Blue Coast Systems, which commissioned the report, calls instant messaging anarchy.
The problem is so severe, the IT security firm claims, that office workers are spending as much as half an hour a day using instant messaging for chats with other people, on topics ranging from job gripes to sexual advances.
Researchers found that more than 65 percent of respondents admitted to using instant messaging for personal purposes during work hours.
Almost 50 percent of respondents also admitted to use bad language in their IM chats, whilst 40 percent said they used IM to conspire with their colleagues on conference calls.
Interestingly, 60 percent said they did not believe, or were unsure, whether IM conversations could be monitored by their employer.
Nigel Hawthorn, Blue Coat's European marketing director, said that his firm's research has revealed that workers are using IM almost as much as regular email.
“Such uncontrolled use of the network can not only bite off chunks of enterprise bandwidth, but also poses a significant security risk. It can also lead to the leaks of confidential information and even lawsuits,” he said.
For its research, Blue Coat took in more than 200 responses via an online questionnaire during August.
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