vwporschelogosMost of the 30 blue-chip firms listed in Germany’s DAX stock market index are banning employee use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter according to a report in the German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche, as reported in the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper today.

The Mail says that German companies such as Volkswagen, Porsche, Commerzbank and HeidelbergCement are introducing bans in the workplace or have already done so.

In the case of Porsche, news emerged two weeks ago on their blocking actions as reported by Hans Kullin in Sweden:

Porsche AG is blocking employees’ access to social networks such as Facebook and Xing, according to an article in Automotive News. The reason is to shield the sports-car maker from industrial espionage.

Industrial espionage is one of the security fears which appear to be the main driving force behind this group ‘off-switch’ activity:

[…] Computer experts have identifying [sic] social network sites as posing the main threat to company IT systems. ‘Before it was email that was the favorite gateway for damaging software – today it is social networks,’ said representative of anti-virus provider Kaspersky Christian Fuchs.

Other companies, such as car firm Daimler, cited concerns about employee productivity.

Luxury car maker Porsche recently restricted Facebook use over industrial espionage fears while energy group E.ON and industrial gas giant Linde have also curbed access to Facebook and video sharing site YouTube at some of their offices.

A study by IT security firm Clearswift indicated that 30 percent of German companies fear social networking sites will distract their employees from work if they have unlimited access.

However, a much larger group — 56 percent – cited security concerns as the primary reason to restrict such sites, Wirtschaftswoche said.

This is quite startling when a large group of household-name influential businesses take collaborative action like this, for the reasons stated. It’s almost like the action of a cabal or a cartel.

It seems to me this is more about perceived productivity issues and control of what employees do than it is about security.

My podcasting partner Shel Holtz runs campaign and awareness-raising activity at StopBlocking.org with persuasive arguments and links to pretty balanced views on why blocking employee workplace access to social media is, in the end, an exercise in futility.

In particular, Shel posted a highly-relevant article from a Gartner tech event in the summer that speaks directly to this latest blocking activity in Germany:

[…] research director Andrew Walls told attendees that although infosec pros may worry that social networking will lead to uncontrolled malware outbreaks, phishing, breaches of confidentiality and trade secrets, and even damage to the corporate reputation, trying to take control or even block its use is akin to monitoring employees’ home phone calls and rifling through their postal mail.

“All this message traffic is not in your infrastructure,” Walls said. “It all takes place out there in the cloud,” plus it can be accessed from anywhere, and users’ privacy settings can make monitoring nearly impossible. “At the root of it is staff productivity, and security isn’t responsible for monitoring and managing the productivity of the organization.”

Some believe social media represents a growing platform for malware distribution, but Walls countered that argument, noting that antimalware vendors he’s spoken with say social networks are being victimized by the same malware plaguing email and websites. “So if I’m going to block social media on the basis of malware distribution,” Walls asked hypothetically, “why not block email?”

via searchsecurity.techtarget.com

I hope some sounder thinking happens on this issue soon at those top 30 German c0mpanies.

(Logos image at top courtesy of Autoblog.)

65 responses to “Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter”

  1. [Blog] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://tinyurl.com/35fl5dr #fb #in

  2. [nh.com] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://goo.gl/fb/0Ul7L

  3. RT @jangles: [Blog] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://tinyurl.com/35fl5dr #fb #in

  4. RT: @jangles: [Blog] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://tinyurl.com/35fl5dr #fb #in

  5. Yikes! RT @jangles: [Blog] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://tinyurl.com/35fl5dr #fb #in

  6. Hobson: Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter: Most of the 30 blue-chip firms listed in Germany’s DAX stock ma… http://bit.ly/an6UrC

  7. Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter | NevilleHobson.com
    http://safe.mn/1c9E

  8. Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter | NevilleHobson.com
    http://safe.mn/1c9E

  9. RT @jangles: Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://is.gd/ghWT1

  10. RT @jangles: [Blog] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://tinyurl.com/35fl5dr #fb #in

  11. RT @jangles: [Blog] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://tinyurl.com/35fl5dr #fb #in

  12. Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://j.mp/9h4LHY

  13. peter_einarsson (Peter Einarsson) avatar

    Twitter Comment


    Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter [link to post]

    Posted using Chat Catcher

  14. Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter | NevilleHobson.com: Most of the 30 blue-chip firms listed in Germany's … http://bit.ly/bRNBO1

  15. Most of the 30 firms listed in Germany’s DAX stock market index are banning employee use of social networking sites http://j.mp/9bTYjM

  16. Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://goo.gl/2wqe RT @jangles

  17. Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter | NevilleHobson.com http://bit.ly/c8MwGL

  18. RT @jangles: [Blog] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://tinyurl.com/35fl5dr #fb #in

  19. Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://goo.gl/fb/20OE8 #twitter

  20. RT @danielchow77: Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://goo.gl/fb/20OE8 #twitter

  21. guerillakitchen (Guerilla Kitchen) avatar

    Twitter Comment


    RT @jangles: [Blog] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter [link to post] #fb #in

    Posted using Chat Catcher

  22. danielchow77 (Daniel Chow) avatar

    Twitter Comment


    Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter [link to post] #twitter

    Posted using Chat Catcher

  23. De grandes entreprises allemandes interdisent l'utilisation de twitter et facebook sur le lieu de travail http://is.gd/gkicf

  24. RT @florencedesruol: De grandes entreprises allemandes interdisent l'utilisation de twitter et facebook sur le lieu de travail http://is.gd/gkicf

  25. RT @florencedesruol: De grandes entreprises (D)interdisent l'utilisation de twitter et facebook sur le lieu de travail http://is.gd/gkicf

  26. RT @jangles: Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://is.gd/ghWT1

  27. OnTheRecord (On the Record Online) avatar

    Twitter Comment


    Yikes! RT @jangles: [Blog] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter [link to post] #fb #in

    Posted using Chat Catcher

  28. jangles (Neville Hobson) avatar

    Twitter Comment


    [Blog] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter [link to post] #fb #in

    Posted using Chat Catcher

  29. LucieSmith (Lucie Smith) avatar

    Twitter Comment


    RT: @jangles: [Blog] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter [link to post] #fb #in

    Posted using Chat Catcher

  30. elwirakotowska (elwira kotowska) avatar

    Twitter Comment


    RT @danielchow77: Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter [link to post] #twitter

    Posted using Chat Catcher

  31. ClaudeSuper (Claude Super) avatar

    Twitter Comment


    RT @florencedesruol: De grandes entreprises (D)interdisent l’utilisation de twitter et facebook sur le lieu de travail [link to post]

    Posted using Chat Catcher

  32. Paranoia? Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://bit.ly/8YXvHx

  33. florencedesruol (Florence Desruol) avatar

    Twitter Comment


    De grandes entreprises allemandes interdisent l’utilisation de twitter et facebook sur le lieu de travail [link to post]

    Posted using Chat Catcher

  34. Oh dear oh dear… Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  35. Surely they will just turn to their smartphones RT @Chris_Hall1 Oh dear Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  36. RT @Chris_Hall1: Oh dear oh dear… Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  37. Luxury brand, Porsche, missing a trick?? RT @Chris_Hall1: Oh dear oh dear… Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  38. RT @Chris_Hall1: Oh dear oh dear… Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  39. RT @Chris_Hall1: Oh dear oh dear… Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  40. RT @Chris_Hall1: Oh dear oh dear… Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N > Das ist nicht der Weg, es zu tun!

  41. RT @Chris_Hall1: Oh dear oh dear… Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  42. Espionage, Employee Productivity:Reasons for Banning
    Twitter, FB say Top German http://t.co/bBiKN3q http://t.co/qM9IvMY via @jangles

  43. RT @DangerousMkting: RT @Chris_Hall1: Oh dear oh dear… Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N > Das ist nicht …

  44. I'm not buying the security excuse either / RT @chris_hall1: Oh dear oh dear… Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  45. JinanAlrawi (Jinan Alrawi) avatar

    Twitter Comment


    Espionage, Employee Productivity:Reasons for Banning
    Twitter, FB say Top German http://t.co/bBiKN3q [link to post] via @jangles

    Posted using Chat Catcher

  46. Reminds me of when firms tried to ban the Internet RT @Annemcx RT @Chris_Hall1: Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  47. RT @actionlamb: Reminds me of when firms tried to ban the Internet RT @Annemcx RT @Chris_Hall1: Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  48. RT @actionlamb: Reminds me of when firms tried to ban the Internet RT @Annemcx RT @Chris_Hall1: Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  49. RT @Chris_Hall1: Oh dear oh dear… Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/3047N

  50. Concern ab productivity and espionage have prompted leading German firms to ban FB, twitter at work. http://bit.ly/di2Ebm

  51. RT @tulsathit: Concern ab productivity and espionage have prompted leading German firms to ban FB, twitter at work. http://bit.ly/di2Ebm

  52. RT @tulsathit: Concern ab productivity and espionage have prompted leading German firms to ban FB, twitter at work. http://bit.ly/di2Ebm

  53. […] at this story, but most of the 30 blue-chip firms listed in Germany’s DAX stock market are banning employee use of social networking sites. Porsche’s Hans Kullin said it was intended to protect the company from industrial espionage, […]

  54. Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/32Yuj

  55. RT @PatrickChareyre: Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/32Yuj

  56. Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/32YvU

  57. RT @PatrickChareyre: Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/32Yuj

  58. RT @bspirit: Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/32YvU

  59. Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter | http://t.co/EooglVu http://t.co/u1tfCWw via @jangles

  60. Les plus grandes entreprises allemandes bannissent Facebook et Twitter http://ow.ly/35YvG

  61. RT @blogdugeek: Les plus grandes entreprises allemandes bannissent Facebook et Twitter http://ow.ly/35YvG

  62. #socialmediapolicy Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter http://ow.ly/363W1 #badexample

  63. […] Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter, by Neville […]

  64. Top German firms ban Facebook and Twitter (This despite early adoption by US armed services and major consumer brands). http://ow.ly/3ok1T