Arcadia Group, the UK’s largest clothing retailer, has overhauled internet access policies to protect systems and staff.

The company, which owns high-street chains including Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, will use the Webwasher system from Secure Computing to enforce the polices and protect itself from malware.

‘With more than 3,000 IT users, it is important to maintain a professional environment,’ said Arcadia technology manager Steve Hall. ‘While we block some web sites because they are offensive and threatening, many of these are also conduits of malicious attacks in the form of active code, which launches spyware and other malware when a user views a specific page,’ he said.

The access policies have been crafted to ensure the firm does not face any legal liability that may result from allowing inappropriate content into the workplace.

Hall says the system’s ability to filter encrypted web traffic, which could contain malware, is also important.

Phil Cracknell, president of the Information Systems Security Association, and director of technology assurance & advisory at Deloitte says web filtering has generated huge productivity gains for businesses.

‘Bandwidth use has reduced significantly in most organisations that have implemented filtering,’ he said.