The recent WikiLeak's disclosure of secret U.S. State Department cables has just about everyone with a computer network on edge. For enterprises, the controversy illustrates both the risks and opportunities inherent in the open, sharing environment created by Web. 2.0 technologies. Five lessons that businesses might take from this controversy are spelled out by Brian Roddy of Jive Software, in a post at CIO magazine.

To start with, ideas regarding what information should be private are changing fast among consumers. With Facebook and other social networks, users are sharing information faster and with more people than ever before. By the same token, people expect more openness from their employers and often do not understand the imperatives of confidential data and regulatory requirements. 

At the same time, the contrast between the technologies people use at work and in their free time is growing. Employees will go around IT policies to use social networks and corporate applications on their personal devices. They use consumer services for their email, instant messaging and file sharing, among other things, Roddy writes. These services are simple to access but difficult to block.

Businesses really can't afford to ignore these changes, Roddy advises. "Employees are spewing confidential and propriety business data and communication all around the consumer Web," he writes. "This is scary stuff for anyone charged with compliance and governance. Even their colleagues are not their allies."

For more:
- see Brian Roddy's post at CIO magazine

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