Internet abuse costing small firms

E-MAIL and internet abuse is costing businesses up to €1 million a day, according to the Small Firms Association (SFA).

The lobby group believes that Irish employers are impervious to the scale, extent and impact which such abuse can have on their business.

Recent SFA analysis has shown that 57% of small businesses have no e-mail and internet abuse policy in place, despite the fact that they will be held legally liable if their employees misuse their IT systems.

"While small businesses have actively embraced technology and have put e-mail and the internet on most desktops in order to achieve productivity gains, this empowerment brings with it a risk that many companies do not anticipate, particularly in lost output and increased cost," said the SFA's Patricia Callan.

"If employees misuse e-mail or the internet for only 10 minutes each day, then the cost to Irish business is over €1 million a day in pure productivity terms. But But e-mail and internet abuse can leave an employer open to even greater costs, such as libel actions, inadvertent entry into binding contracts, breaches of copyright legislation and exposure to sexual harassment or bullying claims," she added.

The SFA emphasised that owner-managers face a significant "duty of care" to staff, customers and public, in protecting them from unsolicited information or advice from their company.

"The most important thing for companies to realise is that they will be held vicariously liable for the actions of their employees, even if these actions take place without consent," said Ms Callan.

"Employers must also be aware of the possibility of employees breaching copyright laws in electronic correspondence, or downloading material from the internet, in particular software piracy, which the Business Software Alliance estimates costs the Irish software industry €40 million per annum," she added.

"Penalties under the copyright laws include fines of up to €127,000 or imprisonment for five years."