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RSS feedsAll anti-spam strategies need boardroom backing to be effective, and this can be achieved by putting a cash figure on the risks of not using a spam filter and calculating the costs of using one.
Any anti-spam strategy should be underpinned by a corporate internet and email usage policy, detailing methods to tackle spam, and offering guidance for staff. This policy should be established with input from all stakeholders including the IT, human resources and legal departments.
Roger Dean, founder of not-for-profit e-business association Eema, warned there is potential for staff to take action against employers who fail to protect them from inappropriate spam content. Firms may therefore develop usage policies to prevent such actions, by demonstrating that filtering systems and practices are in place to protect employees.
Technology, such as filtering systems to block spam, should be implemented to support the corporate policy. Firms might also establish a dedicated spam repository, and ask users to forward all junk mail to it. This data could then be used to fine-tune spam filters.
Staff should be informed of any email monitoring, to ensure firms comply with privacy laws.
Human resources managers should offer regular training sessions on anti-spam techniques, as part of wider schemes on internet and email best practices. These sessions could be completed by new employees, and then offered to other staff on a refresher basis or to educate them about policy changes or new laws.
Training might include educating users about the typical attributes of spam. Employees should also be advised against the use of corporate email addresses for personal communications and web site registrations, and against responding to spammers, to prevent address verification.
In future, firms might start filtering out URLs within email; and warning staff against the use of automated out-of-office replies, which could inadvertently verify addresses.
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