Clearswift: E-mail Mistakes Highlight Need for Outbound Communications Security.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Investments in anti-spam and anti-virus overlook threat from within

The high number of e-mail gaffes which have hit the headlines in 2005 illustrate that many organizations have become so focused on stopping spam and e-mail-borne viruses but have overlooked the e-mail threat from within, Clearswift said today.

Only after four months, the media has already reported on the embarrassing resignation of a CEO; a Freedom of Information treasury document blunder; and the personal musings of a high-level U.K. political adviser, all due to the inappropriate use of e-mail. Just this month, an e-mail from an anonymous sender was widely distributed from a U.K. local council encouraging other council employees and constituents not to vote for the incumbent Labour candidate in the U.K. General Election.

These high-profile and reputation-damaging blunders come at a time when sales of anti-spam technology is rising fast, with respected analyst IDC predicting that the market revenue for anti-spam solutions will experience a compound annual growth rate of 42% through 2008. IDC also expects the anti-virus market growth to reach $4.85 billion in 2008 as companies invest in protecting their e-mail gateways.

"With organizations investing so much into anti-spam and anti-virus technology it is obvious that there is concern over e-mail-based threats but many may have overlooked the fact that the biggest e-mail-based threat to their company is actually from within," Clearswift technical director, Alyn Hockey, said.

"The number of high-profile mistakes we've seen reported in the media this year are perfect reminders as to why organizations must ensure they have a robust e-mail policy and outbound content security software in place to make sure that confidential information or offensive e-mails are not being circulated -- anti-spam and anti-virus measures are not enough.

"Sending an e-mail is pretty simple but it is still a complex method of communication. It's more permanent than a letter, yet often more informal than a telephone call. Organizations who ignore securing their outbound communications leave themselves wide open to financial- and reputation-damaging incidents -- not to mention potentially getting themselves into serious legal difficulties."

The gaffes reported in the media so far this year which could have been prevented with a combination of powerful content security software and a well-communicated e-mail policy include:

--Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher was forced to resign after inappropriate use of company e-mail systems was discovered

--The BBC were inadvertently e-mailed sensitive documents by a U.K. government department regarding the management of a contentious issue with a Financial Times journalist -- as part of a routine FOI inquiry

--U.K. government adviser Alistair Campbell accidentally sent an expletive-laden e-mail tirade against a BBC journalist to the wrong address -- to the BBC journalist in question

--An e-mail sent from the Blackburn Council e-mail system urging council workers and other constituents to vote against the incumbent Labour MP, Jack Straw, in the U.K. General Election.

"Prevention is far better than cure, and with a well-communicated e-mail policy and intelligent, powerful content security software -- which secures both outbound and inbound messages -- organizations can dramatically reduce the chance of such blunders and avoid the damaging consequences," Hockey said.

Clearswift's MIMEsweeper for SMTP 5.0 offers a powerful content analysis engine and granular policy support that allows organizations to filter according to a variety of attributes, including file size, type, attachment, sender, specific content or virtually any other characteristic that is unique to an organization. Each e-mail and attachment that comes into or leaves a company's internal network is scanned and compared against the policy to ensure that any and all information is appropriate. If a questionable e-mail is captured by the filter, MIMEsweeper uses its powerful Roles and Responsibilities functions to route the mail to an administrator or compliance officer for secure prereview. All filtering and functions can be configured and managed from a central console, while Clearswift provides automatic updates and patches through its industry-recognized ThreatLab service.

About Clearswift

Clearswift secures content and protects against digital attacks by enforcing security policies that increase productivity, reduce IT costs and create a safer business environment. Its world-leading business is founded on providing Total Content Security for e-mail and Web.

The Internet is an invaluable business tool, but with it comes a harrowing collection of threats. Protecting against the circulation of inappropriate images and text, spam, breaches of confidentiality and viruses is now mission critical.

Clearswift enables organizations to protect themselves against digital attacks, meet legal and regulatory requirements, implement productivity-saving policies and manage intellectual property passing through their network.

About MIMEsweeper(TM) for SMTP 5.0

MIMEsweeper for SMTP 5.0 is the most comprehensive enterprise-class e-mail content security solution available in the market, delivering the best scalability and robustness anywhere. It is a best-of-breed solution that counters all content security threats -- spam, viruses, worms, Trojan horses and DOS attacks, while allowing companies to remain compliant and meet best practice standards.

MIMEsweeper allows consistent policy definition and enforcement, through automated policy replication. This new version incorporates a "roles-based" approach to administration too, moving mail management from back office to the front office. This allows, for example, the HR department -- rather than IT -- to implement company mail policy on, say, profanity, sexism or racism. Its unique approach to system management allows for hierarchical devolvement of duties to multiple administrators. IT managers can delegate specific responsibilities, such as server monitoring, access to particular quarantine areas and reporting, to the most appropriate administrators or department, therefore spreading the load of administration and significantly reducing the time it takes to process blocked e-mails.

Clearswift, MAILsweeper, MIMEsweeper, spamActive and ENTERPRISEsuite are trademarks or registered trademarks, in the United States, United Kingdom and certain other countries, of Clearswift Limited. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged.

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