A survey by Blue Coat Systems has found that IT managers would like to see Facebook and other social networking type sites banned from the enterprise environment.

Participants in the survey included 147 security managers and 109 network managers, the majority of which all recommended banning the tools and web sites from the office.

According to Nigel Hawthorn, vice president for marketing at Blue Coat, the results of the survey surprised even him, “I’m surprised at the depth of feeling expressed. However, as with many new technologies, including the Internet itself in its early years, organisations are still evaluating the potential of Web 2.0 social networking applications and learning how to harness their power in a controlled manner."