The European Football Championships are almost upon us, which is fantastic news for football (soccer) fans, but terrible news haters of ‘The Beautiful Game’. It is also something of a nightmare for employers.

It is easier to manage than the World Cup of course. There are only a very limited number of time zones across Europe, so no matter where the games are played, most kick-off times are outside of normal business hours. Unfortunately, standard business hours are becoming a thing of the past for many workers and not all qualifying games are played in the evening. Many employees will face a dilemma. Watch the game at work and risk the ire of an employer, or miss out on some live football action. A great many will choose the former and will use streaming websites to see the games live.

IT security risks are introduced during major sporting events

Major sporting tournaments have a knock on effect on productivity, but that is actually a relatively minor issue compared to the increased network security threat that comes from sports streaming websites. Streaming websites breach copyright laws. The owners of websites showing live sports games run a risk of arrest, heavy fines and even prison terms for their deeds. They must therefore make enough money to make it worthwhile.

To do this they show adverts on their sites. However, few people click on standard adverts. They go on the sites to watch sports, not click on links. The site owners therefore have to be sneaky. They make it hard for the adverts to be closed. The put multiple X’s in the adverts, which launch pop ups. This means that your standard football addict will end up clicking on multiple adverts in an attempt to close them.

Cyber criminals are well aware of the tactics used by the site owners, and know that ad’s will be clicked by everyone using the sites. If they are able to get their adverts on ad networks, getting visitors to their malicious websites could not be easier. That means more individuals will inadvertently download their malware, more computers will be infected, and they will make more money.

So are the European Football Championships all bad news for employers?

The European Football Championships mean owners of streaming websites will make money, it’s a win for cyber criminals and hackers, and great for Football fans. Employers don’t fare too well, and neither to IT security professionals. Bandwidth is chewed up by employees streaming games, the malware risk increases and it is a potentially unproductive time for a few weeks.

That said, it’s not all bad for employers. Research conducted by Robert Half Technologies shows that there are positives. In a poll of HR directors, 44% thought that the European Football Championships would actually have a positive impact on morale and employees would be more motivated. This happened during the Olympics. IT professionals were not so complimentary about the benefits. In fact, 57% will be banning access at work due to the high network security risk and bandwidth issues.

A ban can be implemented easily. All it takes is an email, or a mention in a staff meeting. But how can the ban be enforced?

How can you block streaming websites, control Internet usage at work, and manage risk?

There are many ways to block website access, but it can be time consuming to set up. It is also hard to block access to ALL websites used for streaming. These often change or are shut down and new ones opened. Blanket bans can result in legitimate websites being blocked, and setting rules on individual browsers is just not an option. It is far too time consuming, and too easy for users to change their own settings to allow temporary access.

The best solution is to use web filtering software. This allows internet usage to be centrally controlled by a system administrator. You could even block all games apart from those involving those played by your home country. It really is very simple to have that level of control (if you have the right web filter installed).

SpamTitan Technologies web filtering solutions have highly granular controls, which will allow you to:

  • Block websites by domain, category, URL pattern, or content
  • Prevent users from downloading certain file types
  • Block or permit certain websites for specific groups or individuals
  • Set restrictions based on time-frames – i.e. allowing workers to stay after work to watch games, but block access during working hours for groups or individuals
  • Prevent end users from visiting links to malicious websites
  • Block malicious adverts from being displayed
  • Blocking all streaming services, including music and video
  • Block online gaming websites
  • Compile reports to see who is trying to access banned sites.

Add a SpamTitan Technologies Anti-Spam solution and you can also block the barrage of spam and phishing emails that are sent whenever major sporting events take place.