Clearswift Advises Organizations on E-mail Best Practices; Quattrone Case Highlights Need for E-mail Policies and Enforcement.

SAN RAMON, Calif. -- A story titled "Former Star Banker Quattrone Gets 1 1/2 Years in Prison," released by the Associated Press on Sept. 8, 2004, notes that an e-mail forwarded by investment banker Frank Quattrone turned his case. The AP story states, "The Quattrone case turned on a 22-word e-mail that Quattrone forwarded to CSFB bankers on Dec. 5, 2000, encouraging them to 'clean up' their files before the holidays." This case underscores the need to establish e-mail policies, educate employees and enforce policies with software.

Clearswift is advising organizations to look at their current e-mail and Internet policies and practices and implement the following steps to address issues with Internet use related to use of company e-mail and Internet for personal and business correspondence and communications.

Establish a Policy

The first step in stemming the tide of e-mail-related lawsuits is to establish a sound Internet use policy in which employees acknowledge that the Web and e-mail system belongs to the company and that messages may be monitored. A policy not only alerts employees to concerns of organizational liability, but may also be used as evidence of supporting a healthy work environment.

"An e-mail policy protects organizations from lawsuits based on the right to privacy," said Greg Hampton, country manager, Clearswift. "Though monitoring e-mail is a necessary security measure, it may also be perceived by employees as an invasion of privacy -- which means that you, as an employer, could be held liable for monitoring your employees' e-mail -- unless you let them know."

Educate Employees

If employees aren't informed about how to use e-mail and the Web properly, they probably won't. The end result then is potential legal liability and loss of both network and employee productivity -- both affect an organization's bottom line.

Implement Software to Enforce Policy

Internet security software such as Clearswift's MIMEsweeper helps companies to enforce policies. MIMEsweeper is designed to block communications that contain offensive and illegal words or phrases. It also can stop large attachments and e-mail that contain viruses or malicious code. So, if an employee ignores the company policy and sends an e-mail containing the kind of language that can be construed as harassment or discrimination, or if an e-mail contains a threat to the network like a virus or malicious code, the e-mail can be stopped before harm is done. Additionally, if e-mails are destroyed and retention policies ignored, the company and/or the individual can be held responsible for the inappropriate actions.

"The consequences of e-mail misuse and abuse is evident in the Quattrone case," stated Hampton. "Frank Quattrone faces a prison sentence for information passed via e-mail. Information in e-mail is legally binding and should be noted as such."

For more information about establishing, educating and enforcing e-mail policies, please visit www.clearswift.com or call 888-888-6883.

About Clearswift - Clearswift -- The #1 in Content Security

Clearswift, The MIMEsweeper Company, is the world's leading provider of content security software for e-mail and the Web. Clearswift secures content and protects against digital attacks by enforcing security policies that increase productivity, reduce IT costs and create a safer business environment.

The Internet is the greatest business tool ever invented, 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.

Clearswift's portfolio includes MIMEsweeper, the world's most advanced content security solutions, as well as a range of specialized security solutions for the most security-conscious environments.

Clearswift has 15,000 customers and more than 20 million end users worldwide. It has offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Japan and Australia.

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.