Corporate email and internet use policies and procedures

Acceptable Use Policy

Employee Acceptable Use Policy

E-mail Policies and Procedures

INSTANT MESSAGING

Instant Messaging Policies and Procedures

NETWORK AND INTERNET

Personal Responsibility

Permitted Use and Term

Availability and Access

Content and Communications

Privacy

Downloaded Files

Confidential Information

Prohibited Activities / Prohibited Uses

Compliance

Noncompliance

SOFTWARE USAGE

Software Usage Policies and Procedures

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING

Acknowledgement of Receipt and Understanding (Spectorsoft, 2005, pp. 3-8).

ELECTRONIC ACCESS POLICY

The Company provides some, if not all, employees with electronic access, consisting of an e-mail system, a network connection, and Internet/Intranet access. This policy governs all use of the Company's network, Internet/Intranet access, and e-mail system at all Company locations and offices. This policy includes, but is not limited to, electronic mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, the Internet, news groups, electronic bulletin boards, the Company's Intranet and all other Company electronic messaging systems.

EMAIL

2. E-MAIL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

The Company's e-mail system is designed to improve service to our customers, enhance internal communications, and reduce paperwork. Employees using the Company's e-mail system must adhere to the following policies and procedures:

The Company's e-mail system, network, and Internet/Intranet access are intended for business-use only. Employees may access e-mail and the Internet for personal use only during non-working hours, and strictly in compliance with the terms of this policy (Spectorsoft, 2005, pp. 3-8).

All information created, sent, or received via the Company's e-mail system, network, Internet, or Intranet, including all e-mail messages and electronic files, is the property of the Company. Employees should have no expectation of privacy regarding this information. The Company reserves the right to access, read, review, monitor, and copy all messages and files on its computer system at any time without notice. When deemed necessary, the Company reserves the right to disclose text or images to law enforcement agencies or other third parties without the employee's consent.

Any message or file sent via e-mail must have the employee's name attached.

Alternate Internet Service Provider connections to the Company's internal network are not permitted unless expressly authorized by the Company and properly protected by a firewall or other appropriate security device(s) and/or software.

Confidential information should not be sent via e-mail unless encrypted by Company approved encryption software and according to established Company procedure in effect at the time of transmittal. This includes the transmission of customer financial information, Social Security numbers, employee health records, or other confidential material.

Employees must provide the System Administrator and/or the Chief Information officer with all passwords.

Only authorized management personnel are permitted to access another person's e-mail without consent.

Employees should exercise sound judgment when distributing messages. Client-related messages should be carefully guarded and protected. Employees must also abide by copyright laws, ethics rules, and other applicable laws.

E-mail messages must contain professional and appropriate language at all times. Employees are prohibited from sending abusive, harassing, intimidating, threatening and discriminatory or otherwise offensive messages via e-mail. Sending abusive, harassing, intimidating, threatening and discriminatory or otherwise offensive messages via e-mail will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination (Spectorsoft, 2005, pp. 3-8).

E-mail usage must conform to the Company's harassment and discrimination policies.

Chain messages and executable graphics and/or programs should be deleted. Any employee engaging in the transmission of inappropriate e-mails, as determined by management, will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Misuse and/or abuse of electronic access, including but not limited to, personal use during working hours, copying or downloading copyrighted materials, visiting pornographic sites or sending abusive e-mail messages will result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Violation of any of these policies will subject an employee to disciplinary action, up to and including termination (Spectorsoft, 2005, pp. 3-8).

INSTANT MESSAGING

3. INSTANT MESSAGING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Employees are prohibited from transmitting on or through any instant messaging service any material that is, in the sole discretion of the Company, determined to be unlawful, obscene, threatening, abusive, libelous, or hateful, or deemed to encourage, aid or promote conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any local, state, or national law.

Instant message usage must conform to the Company's harassment and discrimination policies (Spectorsoft, 2005, pp. 3-8).

All information created, sent, or received via instant messaging, the Company's network, Internet, or Intranet, including all e-mail messages and electronic files, is the property of the Company. Employees should have no expectation of privacy regarding this information. The Company reserves the right to access, read, review, monitor, and copy all messages and files on its computer system at any time without notice. When deemed necessary, the Company reserves the right to disclose text or images to law enforcement agencies or other third parties without the employee's consent.

NETWORK AND INTERNET POLICY

4. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

By accepting an account password, related information, and accessing the Company's Network or Internet system, an employee agrees to adhere to the Company policies regarding their use. You also agree to report any misuse or policy violation(s) to your supervisor or the Company's Chief Information Officer.

5. PERMITTED USE AND TERM

Use of the Network and the Internet is a privilege, not a right. Use of Network and Internet access extends throughout an employee's term of employment, providing the employee does not violate the Company's policies regarding Network, Internet or Intranet use.

6. AVAILABILITY AND ACCESS

The Company reserves the right to suspend access at any time, without notice, technical reasons, possible policy violations, security or other concerns.

7. CONTENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

The Company at its sole discretion will determine what materials, files, information, software, communications, and other content and/or activity will be permitted or prohibited.

8. PRIVACY

The Company reserves the right to monitor, inspect, copy, review, and store at any time, without prior notice, any and all usage of the Network and the Internet, as well as any and all materials, files, information, software, communications, and other content transmitted, received or stored in connection with this usage. All such information, content, and files are the property of eth Company. An employee should have no expectation of privacy regarding them.

9. DOWNLOADED FILES

Files are not to be downloaded from the Internet without the prior authorization of management. Any files authorized for download from the Internet must be scanned with virus detection software before being opened. Employees are reminded that information obtained from the Internet is not always reliable and should be verified for accuracy before use.

14. ELECTRONIC ACCESS

I hereby certify that I have read and fully understand the contents of the Electronic Access Policy. Furthermore, I have been given the opportunity to discuss any information contained therein or any concerns that I may have. I understand that my employment and my continued employment is based in part upon my willingness to abide by and follow the Company's policies, rules, regulations and procedures. I acknowledge that the Company reserves the right to modify or amend its policies at any time, without prior notice. These policies do not create any promises or contractual obligations between this Company and its employees. My signature below certifies my knowledge, acceptance of and adherence to the Company's policies, rules, regulations and procedures regarding Electronic Access.

Signature ____Date

Print Name____ (Spectorsoft, 2005, pp. 3-8).

Justification Report

The use of an acceptable use policy serves to address employee behavior in terms of Internet usage and security. The purpose of the acceptable use policy is to direct staff in the use of Internet services so that appropriate is maintained throughout the organization. Such policies are crucial in helping organizations to maximize the benefits that the Internet has to offer (Sykes, 2005).

Improper Internet and email use creates liabilities for employers and employees, which companies can manage by developing an Internet and e-mail policy and communicating that policy to all employees. Internet access and e-mail use are a source of financial liability for companies, with the potential liability coming in various forms. Lawsuits have been filed on the basis of sexual and racial harassment. Frequently employee productivity suffers because of Internet use. Other potential problems include the following activities by employees:

Engaging in defamation on the Internet or through e-mail

Transmitting protected company information or trade secrets

Cyberstalking

Interfering with company electronic communications by clogging the network

Causing spyware to enter company network systems (Arnesan & Weis, 2007).

Employers have a clear legal right to review e-mail and Internet use to protect the business from its inappropriate use. A long standing legal precedent exists that it is not an invasion of privacy to monitor employee communications but rather is an appropriate business practice to ensure quality control and customer service (Arnesan & Weis, 2007).

Research indicates that requiring an employee signature on an Internet use policy agreement improves its effectiveness as a deterrent. Study results also suggest that if an organization uses a policy, discipline-only is the most common outcome when Internet misuse is found, as opposed to termination. A considerably larger number of employees were terminated in organizations that do not use a policy (Case & Young, 2002).

E-mail systems are the number one entry point from which most malicious programs enter a company. IT security experts recommend that company-wide security can be improved through proper education of staff. Incorporating e-mail and Internet best practices into an acceptable use policy helps to promote employee awareness of security concerns (Danchev, 2003).

Another benefit of having an acceptable use policy is its ability to define e-mail and Web access as organizational tools intended exclusively or primarily for business use. Employees and users are notified that should not have an expectation of privacy in anything they create, store, send, or receive on their computer (M86 Security, 2011).

One question that comes up with respect to using an acceptable use policy is whether such a tool works or not. Organizations that have implemented an acceptable use policy have reported significant improvements in network speed and avoidance of costly network bandwidth upgrades. These results come from successful reductions in inappropriate usage once a policy has been announced and distributed within an organization (Internet acceptable usage, n.d.).

More and more companies are finding it to their benefit to implement acceptable use policy best practices. The American Management Association reports that most companies have policies regarding personal e-mail use and that more than a quarter of their survey respondents have fired workers for misusing the Internet. A survey by Vault.com showed that eighty-seven percent of employees surf non-work related websites while at work (Armour, 2006, February 20). With statistics like these, it is clear that the use of employee acceptable use policies is justified.