14 DAY TRIAL // Second Life is so popular and addictive that people stop doing whatever it is they do at work to play the game. Sophos carried out a web poll of more than 450 system administrators, where 90.4 percent wanted the ability to block the unauthorized use of games at work and 62 percent indicated this was essential. Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos stated that Linden's sim may become a security problem:
"Second Life is a hot topic on the internet, with people becoming hooked on their new virtual life and companies opening up virtual branches. IT departments are concerned that workers may be so keen to log on to Second Life and other virtual worlds that there will not only be a productivity hit but also a potential security issue."
So what did they do about it? As Carole Theriault continues: "If users cannot be trusted to act responsibly on corporate computers, then system administrators will need to enforce policies through technology. For businesses operating in the real world, users playing online games can seriously impact on performance, drain network resources and put corporate data at risk."
Naturally, hackers soon found the possibility to steal identities, and make easy money. That's where Sophos came in and introduced their application control ability to Sophos Anti-Virus in September 2006. It's quite simple actually, as they put it: "the technology integrates seamlessly into Sophos Anti-Virus 6.0, providing users with a universal desktop client that addresses a diverse range of security and productivity challenges." So there you have it, no more Second Life at work for you, Mr. Lazy Bones.