Secure Content Management of Internet Communications Critical To Effective Corporate Governance

http://www.contentmanager.net/magazine/news_h7103_secure_content_management_of_internet.html

WorldCom, Enron, Tyco, Arthur Anderson and Martha Stewart top the growing list of corporations involved in unethical or fraudulent behavior, confidential data leaks and regulatory compliance violations that now make good corporate governance the byword for businesses hoping to succeed in the new millennium.

These recent examples illustrate the critical need for corporations to securely manage Internet communications - from the boardroom to the mailroom - as part of corporate governance policies, or face the prospect of destroyed brands, decimated stock or closing their doors, according to SurfControl (London: SRF), the world's number one Web and e-mail filtering company.

"The Internet has become essential as a primary business communications tool, as well as a source of major risks to companies," said Susan Getgood, senior vice president for SurfControl. "Good corporate governance requires that companies maximize the value of the Internet, by managing their Internet communications and networks with the right tools and techniques to control these risks."

While improving corporate governance policies has become a higher priority within many corporations, the role of IT managers and the networks they manage may be overlooked as an important part of the process. "People pose risks to companies and Internet technology allows those risks to be magnified, unless companies take steps to monitor and prevent them," according to SurfControl's Getgood. For example, confidential data leakage is a major concern to IT professionals, according to a recent survey by SurfControl. Respondents ranked confidential information leakage as the number one content security issue facing their companies this year after spam.

"Content filtering technologies for Web, e-mail and instant messaging are now essential to good corporate governance and maintaining shareholder value. Using multiple and sophisticated filtering technologies to monitor incoming and outgoing Internet communications can help stop unwanted content on the company network, provide audit trails of all electronic activities, remove temptations for abuses and create a window into the company's activities to detect shady or fraudulent activities," said Getgood.

SurfControl, in association with TechTarget, a leading professional IT online information resource, will sponsor a special Webcast on April 20, 2004 to provide IT managers with practical guidance about the latest content filtering technologies and techniques to help implement and enforce good corporate governance policies.

SurfControl also has published a new white paper, "Seven Tips to Enforcing Corporate Governance Policy on Your Network," available now to provide step-by-step guidance for IT managers and Webcast participants.

13.04.2004, SurfControl plc