The wealth of consumer products flooding the enterprise is one of the biggest threats to corporate security, according to a Gartner report.

Employees are increasingly expecting to use their personal equipment and services on the job. At the same time, executives are deciding to adopt more consumer technologies within business operations. With this growing wave of personal tech -- like instant messaging, blogs and MP3 players -- being used in the office and on the road, IT managers are forced to deal with the security holes they could be creating in the network.

"Although consumer technologies create new risks for the enterprise, eliminating their use is increasingly difficult, and impractical," said Rich Mogull, research vice president for Gartner, in a written statement. "By taking security precautions and investing in foundational security technologies now, enterprises can prepare themselves for increasing use of consumer devices, services and networks with their organization, and manage these risks."

The entrance of consumer technologies into the enterprise challenges traditional security models, according to the Gartner report. While the tools to manage the risks may lack maturity and also may come at a high price, they do exist, though.

Many of these tools, such as network access control (NAC) or data leak protection technologies, are being adopted by enterprises to manage other threats and can be configured for consumerization threats, according to Gartner. It may be too early and too expensive for many companies to invest in these areas, the report noted that enterprises can start with policies and procedures, and let them guide future technology deployments.

The Gartner report highlighted four areas where consumer products are penetrating the network. Here's what analysts say is happening and what IT managers need to do about it:

Prepare for Consumer E-Mail and Communication Services

Consumer e-mail, instant messaging (IM) and voice over IP (VoIP) are quickly becoming intrinsically tied to people's online personas. Most employees now use private e-mail services, like Gmail, Yahoo, AOL or Hotmail, often from work, and often as a way to exchange work materials with their PCs at home, according to the report. IM also continues to become more and more popular, especially with younger workers. And other services and technologies, like Skype, video chat and collaborative workspaces, are becoming more common, even among less-technical employees. "Most organizations will find themselves unable to completely block these services, for cultural, if not technical reasons, but security options are available to limit the risks that consumer communications services create," said Mogull. "Enterprises can look at a vector for malicious software or violations of corporate communications policies. Current acceptable use policies often do not cover these areas, and traditional e-mail security or firewalls and URL filtering do not deal with them effectively."

Preparing for Web 2.0 -- Blogs and Social Networking:

More and more employees are posting blogs and participating in social networks and other Web 2.0 services, both inside and outside of the workplace. Gartner warns that company executives should be concerned about the information leaks that these communication channels could cause.

Analysts advise IT managers to define, and educate users about, policies -- what is allowed, and not allowed, with regard to these services. Pay particular attention to blogging and what the enterprise is comfortable allowing employees to discuss, noted the report. Company intellectual property and company operational information should be restricted from blogs.

If social networking, for instance, is not allowed in the office, set up Web security gateways to block it.

Prepare for Unmanaged Mobile Devices

With a growing number of people generally attached to their MP3 players or adopting cell phones with music capabilities, IT managers need to keep in mind the corporate information that could be stored or distributed on them. Gartner noted that these devices can run increasingly robust applications, and increasingly are a target for malicious code.

Enterprises can take precautions today to limit the risks of these devices without resorting to an unenforceable outright ban, according to the report, which recommended deploying a portable device-control solution to restrict the ability for unapproved devices and thumb drives to connect to managed workstations and laptops. The analysts also advised managers to encrypt all approved mobile devices that have access to sensitive data.

Manage and Monitor Remote Connectivity

As both broadband penetration and use of wireless networks increase, employees are connecting to enterprise resources through both unmanaged networks and unmanaged remote devices, reported Gartner. Allowing employees to work remotely or from home on their own systems can increase productivity, but it also creates holes in the company's network safeguards.

Gartner analysts recommend that managers configure their VPNs to restrict access based on a health check of, and the security of, the endpoint. They also advise IT to reduce use of thick client VPNs. If full VPN access is needed, select one with NAC support to reduce the possibility of unmanaged systems using the VPN client software and/or connection.