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POLICY
Avoid the E-Mail Litigation Risk
The wrong information in an e-mail can put your company -- and your clients' companies -- at risk for litigation. An e-mail policy will help employees get the message about what's acceptable to put in an e-mail -- and what isn't.
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E-mail is probably the most used software application in any company. Undoubtedly, e-mail has improved the productivity and profitability of enterprises -- by improved communication and ease of data transfer. However, there is also a downside associated with the growth of e-mail in business. There are legal and compliance issues to consider:
- Corporate confidentiality leaks
- Liability claims for inappropriate e-mail use (including evidence that can be used in litigation)
In addition to the legal and compliance issues, various studies corroborate the fact that a large proportion -- up to 60 percent -- of e-mail received in business is unsolicited, commonly referred to as spam, and costs enterprises in numerous ways:
- Reduced employee productivity
- Increased risk from e-mail-borne viruses
- Reduced E-mail server resources and Internet Bandwidth
- Delayed or lost business communications
Corporate confidentiality leaks
It's easy for an employee to attach a confidential file to an outgoing e-mail message. Whether it's by mistake or on purpose, the outcome of the loss of confidential data is the same. Borland International experienced this first-hand. A Borland employee used the company's e-mail system to send out confidential information to competitor Symantec, his prospective employer. The trade secrets included product design specifications, sales data, and information regarding a prospective contract for which both companies were competing. The employee and recipient were both charged with trade secret theft.
Although it's difficult to police the leaking of confidential reports, there are measures you can take to safeguard the accidental distribution of sensitive material. A good (and simple) policy is to ensure all relevant documents include the statement, "Confidential -- for internal use only." Then, you can set your e-mail filters to block any outgoing messages and attachments that contain this phrase. Table 1 shows how a company might configure its e-mail filter to protect itself against the distribution of confidential data, as well as reduce spam and viruses.
| Table 1: Filter guideline sample -- The incorporation of an e-mail filter on your server helps automatically monitor e-mail traffic. |
| Filter type | Inbound filter | Outbound filter | Exception for specific users |
| Maximum size of e-mail | 20MB | 10MB | Marketing |
| Attachments rejected | .AVI, .mpg, .mpeg, .wav, .exe, .com, .qtm, .jpeg, .vbs | .AVI, .mpg, .mpeg, .wav, .exe, .com, .qtm, .jpeg, .vbs | Marketing, IT |
| Keywords | - | Confidential for internal use only | Senior management, directors |
 | - | Username, password, ID | IT |
| CV, curriculum vitae, resume, job advertised, career | CV, curriculum vitae, resume, job advertised, career | HR |
| Sex, xxx, over 18, adult, pornography, free gift, home payment, work from home payment, work from home, joke | Sex, xxx, over 18, adult, pornography, free gift, home payment, work from home payment, work from home, joke | - |
| Commission, | Commission, | Sales, accounts, marketing |
| From: | Anonymous, no one, no-one, nobody, | - | - |
| To: | - | Competitor A, Competitor B, etc. | Senior management |
| Maximum number of recipients | 10 | 10 | Marketing, IT |
| Retention period | 2 years | | Senior management, directors, HR, accounts, project managers |
| Mailbox size | 200MB | | |
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Keyword Tags: collaboration, compliance, Compliance, Corporate Compliance, Corporate Governance, Digital Risk, e-discovery, E-Mail, litigation preparedness, messaging, Messaging, Messaging Architects, Privacy
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