If you're reading this while your boss thinks you're hammering away on some code or updating that Excel spreadsheet, then you're likely one of the workers that spend about 25 percent of their work time doing personal stuff online. And chances are that your boss doesn't even know it.

Network security consultant firm Voco says that CEOs and CIOs of companies are often completely unaware of what employees are doing online during work hours, allowing them (especially the tech-savvy ones) to get away with all sorts of online goofing off. Employees tend to spend work time browsing eBay auctions, using online dating or social networking sites, chatting over IM, and more, and they do it for just over a quarter of the time they spend at work.

Sometimes, employees also make use of company resources to engage in nefarious activities, like downloading movies and music over P2P. According to Voco's data, for example, many of the prerelease downloads of Hellboy: The Golden Army were over corporate networks. Not only does this consume bandwidth meant for business, it also opens up corporate networks to spyware, adware, and other challenges for network security. And, of course, it could pose a legal issue for the company in question as well. "If investigators were tracking who was downloading, then the company address would turn up and the company would be the one facing legal implications," Voco consultant Paul Hortop said in a statement.

At the same time, not all "personal" Internet use is necessarily bad. Hortop points out that sometimes it can be a challenge to determine exactly what kind of use is inappropriate. "Is it more time-efficient to let staff do their banking online than having them leave the office for half an hour?" he asks. Additionally, workers spending time on social networking sites could actually help the company, given their increased importance to businesses.

Of course, surfing at work isn't exactly a new phenomenon. In a survey conducted in 2005, 93 percent of all US employees admitted to using their employer's Internet access for personal reasons as well as business ones, and 52 percent said they would rather give up coffee than their Internet connections at work. How much that personal Internet use actually impacts businesses is up in the air, however. Websense claims that such behavior costs American corporations nearly $200 billion per year, although given the tiny sample used when drawing that conclusion, the actual number may be quite a bit different.

Regardless of how much it's costing companies, what's important is to make sure you're actually getting your work done while you're not checking your friends' status updates in Facebook or overbidding on an eBay auction. Now, get back to work!

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