The World Cup dominates the airwaves, sells newspapers and, yes, takes a lot of internet bandwidth.

What is also true is that anything that human beings obsess about is fodder for online criminals, and it's no different for football.

Impostors
It's almost a tradition. In 1998, there was a World Cup virus that erased people's hard disks. In 2002 an email virus purported to display the latest results, but clicking on the file infected computers and turned them into virus incubators that attacked other people's machines.

This year there has already been a virus that offers tickets to the games but actually delivers a nasty surprise. Another attack involved a virus-infested spreadsheet that supposedly tracks teams' progress. Opening the spreadsheet created a back door through which hackers and criminals could gain access to your computer.

World Cup at work
When the football crosses into the world of work there are some other potential problems. For example, watching World Cup videos online could sap your company bandwidth while watching the game on a PC might waste your employee's time.

More significantly, ACAS warns that giving some staff time off to watch the football but not giving non-footie fans the same benefit could cause problems, especially if there's a gender bias in who takes the time and who has to cover for the absence. Then there is the vexed question of the sickie the morning after the night before.

Protect yourselves
My advice to everyone else is:

• Be especially wary of football-related emails, websites and scams.
• As ever, don't click on an attachment that might be dodgy.
• Make sure your antivirus and firewall software is kept up to date.
• Use trusted websites to get football results and information.
• With tickets in short supply, be extra-cautious if you buy them online or through other unofficial channels.
• Be flexible with staff if you can, but remember your obligations to all your staff and remind staff about any relevant policies such as those relating to internet use, alc ohol abuse and sick ness.

To access a timetable of this summer's World Cup matches visit www.england2006.co.uk/timetable.htm

Research into the effects of the family-friendly legislation introduced in 2003 has found a big increase in the number of working parents taking advantage of benefits such as flexible working.

Nearly 50% of mothers and 31% of fathers worked flexible hours last year, compared with 17% and 11% respectively in 2002, according to a survey by the DTI and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The legislation also extended maternity leave and introduced paid paternity leave. The survey also showed that last year, mothers took an average of six months' maternity leave compared with only four months in 2002.

Interestingly the number of fathers taking two weeks' paternity leave also increased from 22% in 2002, to 36% last year.

The DTI and DWP also claim the legislation has improved retention rates. The number of women who changed employer when they returned to work after maternity leave dropped from 41% in 2002 to 20% last year.

Alan Johnson, minister for trade and industry, said "Employers recognise the benefits of better enabling employees to balance work and home lives. It saves time and money on recruitment and training while ensuring they keep the staff with the skills they need."

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has vigorously rejected claims from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) that a decline in the number of workplace inspections means not enough is being done to avoid workplace illness, injury and death.

The HSE's response follows the TUC's publication of figures showing a decline in the number of workplace health and safety inspections from 74,000 in 2002/03 to 55,000 in 2004/05.

The TUC also highlighted a decrease in the number of health and safety prosecutions from 960 in 2003/04 to 712 in 2004/05, and a drop in the number of prohibition or 'safety improvement notices' issued by the HSE from 11,295 to 8,445 over the same period.

"While good bosses have nothing to fear from inspections, rogue bosses have never before enjoyed such freedom to neglect safety rules," said Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary. "Negligent employers who risk their employees' health and safety can now do so safe in the knowledge that the HSE Inspector is only likely to come calling once every 13 years."

Responding to the TUC's claims, a spokesperson for the HSE stressed that the overall outlook for health and safety in the UK workplace is very positive.

"The raw numbers don't tell the full story," he said. "Yes, the number of inspections has gone down, but the time our inspectors are spending with duty- holders in higher-risk industries has gone up. You have to look at the quality of the inspections, not just the quantity.

"The most important question is whether what we're doing is having the right effect. And the statistics show that it is. The rate of fatalities is at its lowest ever. The rate of major injuries is on its way down. And in the past five years, new cases of ill health have fallen by between eight and 12 per cent," he added.

The HSE attributes improvements in health and safety results both to the effectiveness of its regime and to hard work by businesses. "One avoidable death is one too many," the spokesperson continued, "but the UK has a record we can be proud of. In Europe, only Sweden has a better record on reported workplace injuries and fatalities.

• For comprehensive information about workplace health and safety, visit www.hse.gov.uk