Proactively Curbs Internet Abuse with Websense

Most people know Canon Inc. as a technological leader. The company designs and manufactures networked multifunction devices, digital and analog copiers, printers, scanners, image filing systems, facsimile machines, camcorders, cameras and lenses, and semiconductor, broadcast and medical equipment. However, very few people realize that Canon is also a leader when it comes to managing its employees on the Internet.

Canon employs 12,000 people at more than 30 facilities throughout North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Last year, several workplace trends caught management's attention at Canon Information Systems, the company's technology research arm in Irvine, Calif. According to a survey done by Vault.com, 54 percent of employers said they have caught an employee surfing non-work-related sites at work. Another survey conducted by the Saratoga Institute determined that more than 30 percent of American companies have terminated employees for inappropriate use of the Internet.

Wanting to be proactive before a potential problem could develop, Canon Information Systems researched using employee Internet management (EIM) software in its network environment. Canon had concerns about how the Internet was affecting employee productivity, and the company also wanted to limit legal liability arising from objectionable Web sites viewed in the workplace.

"Most companies have clear policies regarding use of the phone and other company-owned materials," said James Underwood, senior network systems analyst and project lead for Canon Information Systems. "Why wouldn't they choose to implement an Internet usage policy and enforce it to curb abuses before they happen?"

Canon eventually picked Websense Enterprise EIM software because of its seamless integration with Check Point Firewall-1, its outstanding filtering capability and its ability to be customized on a per-department or per-employee basis. By using Websense - which boasts more than 1 million sites and 54 categories in its database - Canon Information Systems' IS department was relieved of the burden of policing employee Internet usage.