Every Company Needs a Social Media Policy

SARASOTA, Fla. - Jan. 13, 2015 - PRLog -- Sarasota, FL (1/12/15) – Now that more employees are using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other platforms for business purposes, companies are faced with an increasing number of challenges involving social media security. According to one IT consulting firm, corporations that allow employees to use social networks for communicating with business contacts must take steps to avoid a possible security breach.

“Currently, only 12% of businesses have a social media policy,” said Bennet Hammer, founder of Hammer IT Consulting. “And that’s unfortunate, because even using social media for business can lead to major security problems in a company. Most people are surprised to learn that 35% of current viruses are being spread through social media.” He cites data loss as another of the many possible fallouts of social media use in the workplace. “Not all the risks are security related,” Hammer says. “Some are strictly relevant to reputation damage and compromised productivity.”

To avoid the possible pitfalls of corporate social media use, Hammer recommends bringing in an outside expert who can identify any potential risks that may be present. “Normally, an IT consultant specializing in corporate social media use can find any security breaches, reputation exposure or inappropriate content immediately,” he said. “This kind of service is the quickest, most effective way to find and assess any risks social media use may be causing a company.”

At his own firm, Hammer helps companies develop and enforce social media policies so that all employees have a firm set of rules to follow. “In our program, we help companies improve their data security, employee productivity and reputation multiple times over by simply establishing a social media policy. We want corporate executives to understand that this can work wonders for their organizations.”

About Hammer IT Consulting

Hammer IT Consulting, Inc. is a company owned and operated by Dr. Bennet Hammer, a Ph.D. graduate of Nova Southeastern University with extensive experience in the data security field. Dr. Hammer earned a doctorate in Information Systems with a concentration in Information Security, and also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with previously earned degrees in Management and Computer Information Systems. Hammer IT Consulting works with companies across the United States to develop and implement policies regarding data security and social media use.