Check Point Software Technologies has launched new software to help businesses manage employee access to the plethora of Web 2.0 applications.
The Application Control Software Blade is designed to protect the corporate infrastructure by controlling app use within the workplace, such as in-office social network browsing or instant messaging
At the heart of the solution is the Check Point AppWiki the biggest application library in the world, containing more than 40,000 Web 2.0 widgets and over 4,500 internet applications.
With the library backing them, administrators are able to control who can access what applications, as well as sub-applications such as Farmville within Facebook, explained Gabi Reish, head of network security at Check Point.
He told IT PRO other solutions do not allow for interactions with the end user as the Check Point blade does.
"[There are] shades of grey in app management... black and white is not good enough," Reish said.
The Application Control blade, as well as allowing administrators to implement policies for app use, involves the worker with Check Point's UserCheck technology.
This asks users trying to access new apps why they are doing so, inviting them to leave messages for administrators, who can then take this information to tailor policies further.
The launch of the software blade - due to be available from the fourth quarter of 2010 - comes after a Check Point and Ponemon Institute survey found almost half of UK IT practitioners polled said workers rarely or never consider security to be an issue when using Web 2.0 applications.
Furthermore, 58 per cent of UK respondents said Web 2.0 applications have a significant or very significant impact on their companies' security standing.
"It's clear that IT security administrators are concerned about the impact of Web 2.0 applications in the enterprise, but they also need better tools to understand which applications employees are using for business purposes," said Nick Lowe, head of Western Europe sales at Check Point.
