Business of blocking games is a growing one

For years, Sophos PLC, of Burlington, has helped businesses protect their computer networks from viruses and spyware. Now, the company is taking on another menace: computer games.

A January upgrade to Sophos's application control software will enable corporate computer managers to lock out dozens of popular games for desktop computers, including The Sims 2, Need For Speed Carbon, and Guild Wars: Nightfall. Many more games will be added in the following months.

It's Sophos's response to customers who say illicit on-the-job gaming is harming productivity and clogging their data networks.

Sophos's senior security analyst, Ron O'Brien, said a survey found 90 percent of users wanted the ability to block games. Indeed, 62 percent of the respondents "said it was essential."

All programs -- viruses, worms, word processors, Web browsers, or games -- generate a series of unique commands as they start up. Researchers can record these commands and create a library of "signatures" that identify specific programs. A piece of security software can detect the signature of a game that's starting up and instantly halt the operation.

The San Diego-based network security firm Websense Inc. also applies this technique to stop workplace gamers.

"It is a productivity issue," said Steve Kelley, Websense's senior director of filtering products. A Websense survey found that only 9 percent of workers admitted to playing games on the job, but 34 percent of network managers say their colleagues are playing.

Many of these games allow workers to compete over the Internet or the corporate network. "They can be consuming valuable bandwidth resources from other uses in the enterprise," Kelley said. Worse, some games downloaded from the Internet contain "malware" -- viruses and spyware that can compromise sensitive company data.

For Jim Silveria, chief information officer at the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, blocking games is as important as stopping viruses. "It's another way to stop malware from running," said Silveria, who uses Websense software to manage the Registry's PCs. "We generally disallow games and most other nonbusiness applications from running," he said.

The Registry's policy is a little too strict to suit Kathleen Hall, president of the Stress Institute in Atlanta and a consultant for Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Games website. Hall said scientific research at the Mayo Clinic and other prominent institutions suggests that gaming improves memory and boosts the immune system, as well as worker morale.

"Play makes us feel alive," Hall said. "I think every corporation ought to have a playroom or an area of play."

Sites like MSN Games specialize in "casual" games that can be played inside a Web browser for a few minutes of relaxation. About 100 million Americans play them, according to the research firm comScore Media Metrix. Products like those from Sophos and Websense can block such games, but companies can be flexible. For instance, the MSN Games website can be blocked most of the time, but automatically opened for a couple of hours a day for "game breaks."

But tolerating office games can be more difficult as the games become more complex.

"The games are getting more graphics-intensive, and what that means is that the processing on the network is becoming more intensive," said James Hanrahan , chief technical officer for Intrasystems Inc. , a Dedham company that builds and maintains corporate data networks.

Recently, Hanrahan was called in to clean up a sluggish network at a company that made 3-D modeling software. "It turned out to be internal people just goofing around," said Hanrahan; they were competing against each other in a high-powered aircraft simulator game.

Hanrahan said blocking games is also a smart legal strategy. Many recent games are full of gory violence and sexually suggestive images. Some workers might object. "That person could say, I work in a hostile work environment," Hanrahan said, and sue; shutting down all games lets employers play it safe.

Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com.