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Article Title: Introducing Auditing Of Employees' Computers To Reduce Exposure
To Computer Misuse
Author: Andrew Frowen
Category: Security, Information Technology
Word Count: 553
Keywords: computer forensics, computer forensic analyst, auditing, computer
misuse, acceptable use policy
Author's Email Address: [email protected]
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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The improper use of computer equipment by staff can represent a serious threat
to any business, causing potentially costly losses in terms of productivity,
reputation and copyright. Examples of employee computer misuse might include
the viewing of pornography, intellectual property theft or the distribution of
offensive emails.
Cyberskiving, the act of using a computer terminal for personal use during
working hours is a particular problem, with one survey by Thomas Cook revealing
that UK staff waste an average of 2.5 hours per day, equivalent to 75 days per
year, conducting personal business such as checking emails or using instant
messaging services. In addition, if an employee distributes negative or
defaming material via their company network, in some cases it could be the
company that is answerable in court for any loss or damages caused. For these
reasons, it is important to introduce an auditing system to ensure that
employee computer use is regularly monitored and controlled.
If your company is considering introducing such a system, the following steps
should be taken. First, an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) should be drafted and
distributed to all personnel to ensure that they are fully aware of what
activities constitute computer misuse. This policy should also prohibit
employees from deleting email or internet history logs, so that detailed
auditing can take place if necessary.
Second, if you intend to monitor email correspondence or internet usage, it is
wise to make employees aware of this as employers are only permitted to monitor
staff covertly in cases where unauthorised or illegal use of computers is
already suspected. In addition, making your auditing policy public should also
act as a deterrent against employees becoming involved in unauthorised
behaviour.
While employers are quite within their legal rights to monitor business related
emails, monitoring the contents of personal emails is considered a breach of an
employee's right to privacy. As such, it is wise to avoid generally monitoring
content, and instead introduce a system where basic email details such as
recipients, number of attachments and volume are monitored, and only
investigate content where wrongdoing it suspected. Specialist software can be
used to automate this basic monitoring process, which means that a manager
would only need to become involved if the system flagged unusual behaviour.
Similarly, there is software available which can monitor which websites a staff
member is accessing and raise a flag if an inappropriate site is visited, or if
an employee is spending an exceptionally long period of time on a small number
of sites. In this way, companies can choose to investigate the employee's
internet history only if they feel there is reason for suspicion.
If a serious case of computer misuse is suspected, however, it is wise to call
in the assistance of a computer forensic analyst, rather than tackle the
investigation alone as even turning a computer on can change the data stored
within it. A computer forensics expert can ensure that the investigation does
not involve contamination of the evidence which could lead to it being rendered
inadmissible in a court of law or employment tribunal.
To summarise, as businesses become more reliant on computers, the risks posed
by computer misuse also grow, so it is vital that an effective auditing policy
is put in place to ensure that any cases of illegal or unauthorised actions are
quickly identified.
IntaForensics a BS EN ISO 9001:2000 registered firm providing Computer
Forensics, Expert Witness, Mobile Phone Forensics, and Forensic Data Recovery
to the Legal Sector, Police Forces, Local Authorities and Commercial
organisations internationally. Visit http://www.intaforensics.com.
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