The best way to prevent employees from sending pornographic e-mails and tarnishing your company’s good name is to ensure your company policy covers all the angles and that staff are fully aware of it.
The focus on the issue follows two high profile cases of employees sending pornographic emails which hit the headlines last month. Merrill Lynch sacked 13 Dublin staff for inappropriate use of its e-mail system while in the UK, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) sacked 14 staff for gross misconduct for sending pornographic attachments. Another 100 were disciplined.
Colm Murphy, technical director at security specialist Espion, said the only way to prevent such instances was to educate staff about company policies. “In a modern work environment, something that doesn’t offend one person can be very offensive to someone else. You should dedicate a half hour session to it once a year.”
He said technology was available to block such emails but it could be over-intrusive or over-zealous. “You can block images attached to emails, but there are some companies that need to receive images as part of their business. A lot of companies tend to monitor it rather than block it outright.”
Companies had a duty of care to employees so it was best if people employed a bit of common sense when it came to emailing images or even jokes.
“Leave it for after work. What four people might talk about in the pub after work is completely different from what they talk about in a work environment,” Murphy said.
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