Mission critical: intelligent internet use.

• Author: Torii, Jim
• Position: Employment Practices - Brief Article

You've given them a broadband Internet connection and desktop access, but have you provided your employees with an intelligent internet use policy that will help minimize liability, increase productivity and bolster your company's positive image in the marketplace?

MINIMIZE LIABILITY

Potential liability can be significantly reduced by strictly enforcing a company policy that forbids browsing of pornographic and other offensive websites. If the viewing of objectionable material is a serious problem in your workplace, software and hardware is available to filter Web content and add an extra layer of security.

However, Internet use is not limited to Web surfing; it also include e-mail. Transmission of inappropriate jokes and images via e-mail can be very unproductive and easily cause discomfort for some personnel resulting in litigation that could have been avoided.

Your internet use policy also should include a zero-tolerance policy toward copyright infringement. Are employees using downloaded copies of WinZip that are past their 30-day evaluation period? Perhaps you know of a few staff members who shore their MP3 collections on company equipment? In a lax environment, it's easy for copyright infringement to get out of hand, and this could easily result in hefty fines during a software audit. Recently, an Arizona technology firm was fined $1 million because its employees were storing MP3 files on company servers.

CREATING A SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENT

Virus prevention and protection should be another key area of your internet use policy. Because viruses often spread through infected software, downloading, software from the Internet form a possibly untrustworthy website can be very risky. Downloading or installing programs (even business-related programs) over the Internet exposes your company to the risk of virus infection and should be tightly controlled.

Viruses also are frequently transmitted through e-mail. Educate your employees about the dangers of opening e-mail attachments, particularly form senders they do not know personally. As a general rule, your internet use policy should dictate the employees maintain a very cautious attitude toward viruses. Virus outbreaks can be extremely costly and laborious to repair, and often lead to the loss of irreplaceable company data.

REMOTE ACCESS

As you draft you company's internet use policy, don't forget to address users who may be accessing the company network remotely...