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Technology Industry

Take control of communications - Internet

Communications News, July, 2003 by Skip Dostine

While delivering on the promise of aiding employee productivity, e-mail, Web browsing and instant messaging also provide a new temptation to lure employees away from their work, and expose a company to the increased potential for loss of confidential information and legal claims.

Legal precedent shows companies have the right to monitor and control data entering and leaving their organizations. In some cases, corporations have been held legally and financially responsible for not controlling e-mail content to prevent the distribution of offensive or harassing material.

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Misuse of e-mail and instant messaging can have disastrous effects on network efficiency and security. Spam can clog a network, but confidential data, proprietary information and offensive materials can bypass traditional network security. Companies need to establish content and usage policies and then implement the technology to enforce them.

Make sure the corporate Internet content-security policy is consistent with the policy on issues concerning employee responsibility to protect confidential or proprietary information, use of company resources, and even what access the company has to employee workspaces and equipment.

Compile an inventory of your company's electronic messaging systems, managers and users of the various systems. Note who has access to what systems and data, the provisions for backup, and access and security issues surrounding each system. Involve employees, technical experts, lawyers and management in the process of formulating policy. Once the policy is defined, it needs to be published and explained to employees.

Also consider these issues:

* Content-filtering solutions help create and enforce conditions for appropriate use of the Internet on company time. These systems also prevent employees from spending substantial amounts of time, for personal profit, with company resources. Have a legal expert review your final policy before enforcing it.

* Determine whether personal e-mail must be labeled as such and what signature files or message text will be used for corporate messages. Will employees be permitted to encrypt messages? If so, what forms of encryption can they use?

* Establish a level of monitoring and make sure it is incorporated into the policy.

* Consider guidelines and procedures for accessing and disclosing the content of private messages. Who will be authorized to have access and how will you notify employees of any access or disclosure?

* Be sure the consequences for non-compliance are clear, known to all within the organization and apply to everyone. Have your legal experts take a close look at the disciplinary measures you have outlined for infractions.

Once your Internet content-security guidelines are in place, add the technology to make them work. Because content filters complement antivirus and firewall software, many products work well together. Many companies use a combination of these products to scan e-mail, Web content and instant messages entering or leaving the organization, as well as those circulating internally. A complete content-filtering product should be able to:

* check incoming e-mail addresses to stop spammers;

* unpack and scan attachments to ensure content is appropriate for your company;

* block and control dangerous attachments;

* quarantine questionable messages;

* recognize and block specified Web sites, file types and embedded images;

* automatically stamp outgoing e-mail with company messages and legal disclaimers; and

* automatically notify system managers, supervisors and users when rules are violated.

Many companies see a return on investment within three months of implementing content filters, based on employee productivity gains alone. Factor in cost savings relating to fewer viruses and increased network bandwidth and the bottom-line savings grow.

Also significant are the intangible benefits of content-filtering systems. Usage policies enforced by content filters help companies keep e-mail free of incriminating content, in turn preventing expensive legal claims. These systems keep sensitive and intellectual materials within the organization, and prohibit unnecessary network traffic.

For more information from Marshal Software: www.rsleads.com/307cn-252

Dostine is product line sales manager for NetIQ Corp.'s Marshal Solutions content security products, Atlanta.

Technology Industry

Take control of communications - Internet

Communications News, July, 2003 by Skip Dostine

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