E-Mail Security Lax
Remember the bank guard on "The Andy Griffith Show," the old coot
who was always asleep and whose gun fell apart every time he drew it? Well,
it seems that's far more protection than many of us give to our e-mail systems.
An
IDC
survey shows that almost no shops control the data sent out over e-mail,
which may or may not contain corporate secrets.
In my opinion, this isn't an e-mail issue. Even if the mail is locked down,
there are a million ways to ship out confidential information -- via an envelope,
Gmail, thumb drive or CD. The real solution is to control access.
The survey also found that only one in 10 shops use anti-spam software. The
implication is this is a bad thing. But I'm not so sure. Spam filters have to
be set up very, very carefully. I've had 'em where the quarantine held all my
important e-mail, and my inbox stored all my spam. Do you have any spam filter
horror stories? Send the scariest tales to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on November 04, 2008