One in six (17%) UK employees believe corporate security is put at major risk by social networking sites, according to new research from global risk consultancy Protiviti.

With social networking increasing exponentially for recruiting and jobseeking, three in 10 (28%) also consider sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn a major risk to their personal security.

The research also discovered that 27% of workers said that more should be done to clarify the principles of using social networking and media in a working environment. This figure is raised to 30% for those aged 55 and over.

Predictably, workers aged 18-24 years make use of social networking sites most frequently. Nearly three quarters (74%) claim to engage with them every day. This compares with just 21% of those aged 55-65 years.