Companies need to ensure that employees are careful about revealing sensitive information on social networking websites such as Facebook.

Media service firm White Label Media researched the name "Roger Smith" on Facebook and found that only three of the first ten users had activated the website's privacy settings. Because of this, all the personal information they had entered on the site is accessible.

While many consider Facebook simply to be a bit of fun, posting the wrong comments or information can lead to embarrassing and potentially security-breaching incidents.

"This sort of 'back door' activity threatens the good work companies are doing to secure and protect their systems and brand values," said White Label Media's Mark Dye.

"The truth is that much of the content on these sites is available to anyone after the most cursory search.

"For instance, if a media spokesperson enters a comment on their entry saying they're celebrating winning a massive deal, a journalist can access that and construct a story accordingly."

The company suggests that organisations put appropriate media training programmes in place in order to make sure employees understand the risks.

According to recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent)