Can enterprises use private social media tools for secure collaboration internally?

We know that many organizations are using open source Wiki software and platforms (e.g. Mediawiki) to do collaboration internally without exposing their systems to 600 million other users. But are there any other tools that enterprises can use to mimic the real-time connectivity of social networking sites like Facebook internally?

Why would a business want private social networking tools? Isn’t that an oxymoron?

I believe that enterprises can and will eventually begin to use “internal” or “private” social networks to allow for easier real-time collaboration, while avoiding some of the risks of the “public” social networks – such as social engineering attacks, Koobface attacks, etc. I’d really like to learn more about what the options are for businesses to deploy their own social media tools internally, or in a private cloud. Internal deployments would probably tend to be more secure, with potentially more control over access and authentication of users. But a cloud-based implementation by a trusted service provider might also be quite secure. Either way, the facility would be less of an easy target for attackers.

Have you seen or heard of such a thing? If so, where can I learn more about them? Doing a Google search turns up many hits, but I’d like to hear about some success stories and reviews of these kinds of solutions that could benefit the members of the Streetwise Security Zone as we try to figure out how to leverage the power of social media, in a secure and efficient way.

Also, what are your thoughts? What would it take for enterprises to be able to use social networks and social media tools securely? 


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