4. There is a high potential for malware infiltration. Among the chief threats organizations face from unmanaged use of social media is the potential for malware. According to the report, malware has infiltrated 24 percent of organizations through Facebook, and 7 percent of organizations through Twitter and LinkedIn. "More troubling, however, is the fact that a large proportion of organizations are simply not sure whether or not malware has entered through these tools," the report read. It advised that although traditional anti-virus and anti-malware tools can be somewhat effective, a zero-hour threat detection and remediation capability is necessary to block malware that can enter through social media, including malware that can enter through mobile devices.

[See also: Social media for healthcare providers: without it, 'you don't exist'.]

5. Recent legal cases confirm the need to archive social media activity. Organizations' failure to archive their social media content is a "serious problem," read the report, despite the growing number of regulations, court decisions, and other guidance that strongly suggests that social media content be archived. Various regulatory requirements have been developed, along with many legal cases highlighting the growing importance of retaining social media content. In fact, according to the report, a separate study found 674 federal and state court decisions involved social media evidence, for a 22-month period ending November 1, 2011. 

6. There is a strong potential misuse of social media by employees. The report showcased many examples of employees misusing various social media outlets. "A hospital employee in Hawaii with access to patients' medical records illegally accessed another person's records and posted on Myspace that the individual had HIV," it read. To combat this? The report outlined a series of steps to effectively manage social media. To start, an organization should determine benefits and how to best manage risks: "[It] should determine if it can obtain competitive advantage through the use of social media … instead of making a knee-jerk decision not to use these tools because of security or other risks they may pose." Next, organizations should develop, enforce, and update social media policies; manage their social media appropriately; consider using analytics to understand their market and consider deploying enterprise social media, according to the report.

Follow Michelle McNickle on Twitter, @Michelle_writes