A survey of over 250 UK network and security managers suggests they take a dim view of the Internet browsing activities of sales and marketing staff.

Carried out by e-Media and commissioned by WAN optimisation vendor Blue Coat Systems, the survey asked which of four groups of employees - sales, marketing, senior management and remote workers - were most likely to consume network bandwidth for non-work related activities.

Sales staff topped the list, with 43 per cent of network managers and 34 per cent of security managers listing them as the key offenders, with marketing managers in second place.

Remote workers and senior management were considered least likely to waste bandwidth on non-work related activities, though remote workers were considered more likely to introduce viruses and other forms of malware into corporate networks via unprotected systems.