According to a recent study conducted by Proofpoint, 48 percent of large U.S. companies employ staff to read or analyze outbound e-mail, 38 percent overall, and nearly a third of companies have fired an employee for violating e-mail policies in the past year.
Thirty-eight percent of U.S. companies with 20,000 or more employees surveyed employ people whose primary or exclusive job function is to read or otherwise monitor outbound e-mail messages. Overall, 33 percent of all companies employ this kind of staff.
These monitoring activities lead to action in many cases, as 24 percent of companies say that employee e-mail has been subpoenaed in the past 12 months.
Thirty-four percent of companies surveyed say their business was impacted by the exposure of sensitive or embarrassing information in the past year, while 33 percent say they had been impacted by improper exposure or the theft of customer information.
Thirty-one percent of U.S. companies surveyed say they have fired an employee for violating e-mail policies in the past 12 months, while 51 percent say they have disciplined an employee for violating these policies in the same timeframe.
Social networking and social media sites are also becoming risks to companies, as 18 percent say they have investigated exposure of confidential, sensitive or private information through video or audio media uploaded to sites like YouTube and Vimeo, while 15 percent say they have disciplined an employee for violating media sharing/posting policies in the past year. Eight percent reported firing an employee for violating these policies, while 42 percent are highly concerned about the risk of information exposure through these sites, according to Proofpoint.
Seventeen percent of U.S. companies have investigated improper exposure of information through a posting to a social networking site like Facebook and LinkedIn, while 10 percent say they have disciplined an employee for violating social networking policies in the past 12 months. Eight percent say they have terminated an employee for violating these policies, while 45 percent say they are highly concerned about information leakage through these social networking sites.
Thirteen percent of companies say they have investigated the exposure of sensitive information through an SMS text message or a Web-based short message service like Twitter, while 41 percent are highly concerned about the risk of information leakage through these messages and sites.
Eighteen percent of U.S. companies say they have investigated the exposure of sensitive information through a blog or message board posting, while 17 percent say they have disciplined an employee for violating blog or message board policies in the past 12 months. Nine percent say they have terminated an employee for violating these policies, while 46 percent are highly concerned about the risk of improper information sharing via blogs and message boards.
The recession may be increasing the risk of data loss, according to respondents to Proofpoint’s survey. Forty-two percent say that the rising number of layoffs at their companies in the past year have increased the risk of information leakage.
Social networking sites are becoming more than time-wasters for employees, it seems. They are becoming easy venues of improper data sharing that companies are viewing as threats to their business, especially in sensitive economic times like these.
Sources:
http://www.proofpoint.com/news-and-events/press-releases/pressdetail.php?PressReleaseID=245
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/08/10/more-companies-firing-people-over-social-media-misuse
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=22456
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