Let's face it, if you knew you wouldn't have been caught pulling the fire alarm at school so that you could postpone that math test would you have done it? The same moral dilemma faces those who use their PCs at work. Employees (particularly in larger corporations) don't see the real harm of network downtime--it's just a paid break. And if they don't see people getting fired for abuse (I'm not talking about porn here, but shopping, blogging, gambling, etc., etc.) what risk do they really take in abusing their Internet access? Besides, if you do happen to infect the network with the latest worm you're just a poor, little end-user and you're really, really sorry. And how many IT departments are actually going to track the thing down once the fire's been put out? Not many--the standard e-mail reminder to be more careful will have to suffice (oh, and remember to attach a copy of the corporate e-mail/Internet policy).
While I am not excited about Apple, Microsoft, et al taking a stronger oversight role when it comes to workstation and network security, businesses (particularly smaller ones) really do need help against their own worst enemy--themselves. Remember: Ignorance, my friends, is not innocence.
- Hutch
