Less than 30 per cent of large organisations will block employee access to social media sites by 2014, compared with 50 per cent in 2010, according to technology researcher Gartner Inc. The number of organisations blocking access to all social media is dropping by around 10 per cent a year.

“Even in those organisations that block all access to social media, blocks tend not to be complete,” said Mr Andrew Walls, Research Vice-President at Gartner.

“Certain departments and processes such as marketing, require access to external social media, and employees can circumvent blocks by using personal devices such as smart-phones. Organisations need now to turn their attention to the impacts of social media on identity and access management (IAM).”

Gartner said that social media environments include mechanisms to collect, process, share and store a more complete range of identity data than do corporate IAM systems. They enable a more complete view of identity, one that extends beyond the bounds of organisations.

For IAM managers, this is both a threat and an opportunity. Identity data and social media platforms can expose organisations and users to a variety of security threats, but organisations can also use this identity data to improve support for their own IAM practices and the ambitions of business stakeholders.

“Organisations should not ignore social media and social identity,” said Mr Walls. “We recommend that organisations ascertain how they currently use internal and external social media in both official and unofficial ways, and look for dissonance between IAM practices and the identity needs, opportunities and risks of social media.”

> purvita@thehindu.co.in

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