Deborah Galea
Deborah Galea is co-founder and COO of Red Earth Software based in Silicon Valley, California. Deborah is a contributor to most of Red Earth Software’s white papers, articles and blog posts. After completing her Masters degree in European Studies (with a major in Communications) at the University of Amsterdam in 1994, Deborah completed a traineeship at the European Commission. She decided to follow her public relations passion and went on to hold PR & communications positions at the Sdu Informatie Bank (Dutch state publishers) and Hill and Knowlton (pr agency). After successfully running a UK software distributorship for five years, where she was responsible for PR, marketing and daily operations, Deborah decided to co-found Red Earth Software in 2001 and apply herself to creating useful ‘down to earth’ software that solves real business problems. View Deborah’s Linked in profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/4/890/394.
Home page: http://www.policypatrol.com
Posts by Deborah Galea
Why Do I Need an Email Disclaimer? Tips for Getting it Right
An email disclaimer can be part of an automated email signature that is included on every email sent. Certain industries, such as healthcare, legal, and financial services, are heavily regulated with compliance guidelines regarding the transmission of sensitive data. Email disclaimers are necessary for these kinds of companies but they are also a good idea for any other company.
Email disclaimers can be used to remind recipients of confidential content and to deter persons from unlawfully forwarding or copying the email. Email disclaimers can also be used to state company email policies, such as not sending libelous, offensive, obscene or defamatory emails. Below are a few tips for drafting an email disclaimer.
1) Research industry guidelines. For example, if you are in the healthcare field, you must familiarize yourself with the latest HIPAA and HITECH regulations. Tax advisors need to keep to the IRS Circular 230 email disclaimer guidelines. Some legal companies require a disclaimer on every email such as “The information contained in this email does not constitute legal advice.”
2) Use a confidentiality header. This information will clearly state the name of the person for whom the email is intended. This is important if you are emailing any sort of sensitive or private information, such as financial data or HR concerns. This line in the disclaimer will offer some protection to the company if the email were to fall into the wrong hands.
3) Use disclaimers on internal emails within the company. Internal disclaimers should be different from external disclaimers and serve an important purpose. Lawsuits have arisen as a result of an offensive email being circulated around the office. An internal email is a good place to reiterate company policy in one or two lines, and internal disclaimers can vary by department.
4) Include company slogans or messages for marketing purposes. It’s an easy and cost-effective way to get the word out to clients or customers about any upcoming products or events your company has in the works. Make sure it is placed at the end of the disclaimer so it doesn’t conflict with important information.
5) There is nothing more annoying than a long list of email disclaimers at the bottom of emails. Try to make sure that your email disclaimer software can avoid adding multiple disclaimers as well as place the email disclaimer below your email message instead of right at the bottom of the email.
View more email disclaimer tips here.
The Unintended Viral Email Campaign
image by suphakit73
Email is an effective communications tool and can benefit a company in numerous ways. There are times, however, when this tool can become a company’s worst nightmare. Oddly enough, even organizational leadership and management can be the source of damaging emails that get into the wrong hands and show an ugly company image.
Back in 2009 an infamous email from a management level investor sparked discussion when it offended employees. They later posted it online for everyone to see and some jokester even started a fake Twitter account mocking him.
Apparently, that incident didn’t serve as a warning and two other bosses are now in the hot seat for some rather uncouth emails. In the first example a convenience store manager sent an email asking employees to guess who would be the next cashier to be fired. The winner would be awarded a $10 cash prize. In the end, it was found that his email had created a hostile work environment, which caused some major financial ramifications for the company.
Another email from a boss to his employees, this time about failing to replace the skimmed milk in the refrigerator, went very awry when the chief executive of a PR firm stepped into the realm of ill-mannered emails. Just think of the public embarrassment and loss of credibility—and over milk to boot!
Frankly, it comes down to the fact that any time someone is sending an email from a work environment, it is important to obey the rules of email etiquette. Additionally, a strongly enforced corporate email policy should be in place for employees at every level.
As shown in the instance of the boss that created a hostile workplace with his email, it’s worth noting that offensive emails can open a company up to legal liability and financial loss. With that in mind, it’s a wonder that any management level employee would expose their company to such potential damages.
It’s been addressed before, but it can’t be emphasized enough. Emails don’t disappear into the ether when you hit send. They are permanent and sometimes can be very humiliating. Don’t let your company end up as the next viral joke.
Spamalytics: New Research on Fighting Spam
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Researchers at the University of California have been conducting a multi-year study investigating spam and other unsolicited email communications. Their study, dubbed “Spamalytics” has shed light on possibly the most powerful way to fight spam.
The Study
According to an article published in The New York Times, the researchers allowed every piece of spam mail to enter their inboxes and then actually purchased products from 120 strategically selected messages. Their findings showed that it took 12.5 million spam messages to sell a $100 unit of pharmaceuticals. More importantly, they found that the most effective place to combat spam as an industry was by blocking cooperation with spammers and banks. Specifically, if the relationship between bank card processors and spam advertisers can be severed, the research suggests that spam would no longer be a profitable venture and therefore go the way of the dinosaurs.
What Can You Do To Protect Your Company?
Until legislation is introduced to ban these bankcard processors from doing business with spammers, or until there is a voluntary movement to abandon the practice, companies need to protect their email servers from spam infiltration. There are many options out there now to help guard against incoming spam messages including: blacklisting, greylisting, sender reputation and Sender Policy Framework. Having a strict and well-enforced email policy is another way to help protect company assets. Above all, investing in an effective spam filter will be well worth it considering the level of protection provided for a company.
Spamalytics may be a great step forward in thwarting the nefarious efforts of cyber criminals, but until there is cooperation from bankcard processors, it’s really in the hands of companies themselves to protect their inboxes from incoming spam messages with anti-spam software and filters.
How You To Protect Your Company From Unprofessional Emails
When you think of the number of emails you send and receive on a daily basis, it’s hard to imagine that any one of them can be particularly damaging to your company. In reality anything from a faux pas, typographical error, grammatical mishap or a spam attack can affect your company’s customers and your bottom line.
The Error You Didn’t Catch
The less serious email mishaps that happen all too frequently are communication miscues, typos, and grammatical errors. While not ideal as it can make the sender and business seem careless and unprofessional, companies can usually address this problem with spelling checkers and stipulations in the company email policy. Make sure it’s required that employees proofread and spell-check all emails before they hit send. Tell them to avoid sending harried emails from mobile devices unless they can take the time to properly word the email. Set a company-wide email signature so that all emails consistently include the company’s branding and any necessary legal disclaimers. Simple steps can make a world of difference where your professional image and reputation is concerned.
The Error You Need To Catch
If your email security has been compromised, your contacts and more importantly your reputations could be used to pawn scams. In addition to other security measures, a good way to protect against infiltration is to use anti-spam and anti-phishing software that can block spam attacks and thwart phishing attacks. If your spam filter makes use of greylisting, it will not only block spam and phishing attacks but viruses sent from infected zombie machines. If someone were to send a malicious email to your contacts impersonating your company, it’s likely that your customers – who trust your company – could fall victim to a phishing scam. The damage to your company’s image and reputation could be significant.
The Worst Error Of All
It is important to prevent employees spouting off and sending a less than pleasant email to a fellow co-worker or a customer. This type of malicious email can hurt your company’s reputation by casting the appearance that your workplace is out of control. An overly emotional or angry email smacks of disrespect to the recipient. In addition to talking to your employees about holding off on hitting that send button with a hot head, installing an email content filter can make sure that emails containing any inappropriate language are blocked before they are delivered and can do any damage.
Diligence is a requirement in any workplace with electronic communication. Protecting your company is paramount when considering one click of the send button could have lasting and damaging consequences.
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month: How Will You Protect Your Data?
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month and is a great time for businesses to incorporate educational opportunities for employees to keep them safe online at work.
At Red Earth Software we fully understand how critical it is to protect your business with effective safeguards like anti-spam software that effectively blocks junk mail and spam messages.
Keep in mind that cyber security in the workplace is just as much about protecting your business as it is about protecting your customers. Data breaches not only expose information about your company, but they can also expose your customers’ confidential information. Phishing attacks have been around for some time now but with the increasing sophistication and rise of individualized spear phishing attacks, they are becoming harder to spot.
“Successful phishing attacks are launched through emails that all have one thing in common: they seem like they have originated from a legitimate or well-known source, like a bank,” says Deborah Galea, COO and co-founder of Red Earth Software. “The recipient then unwittingly provides passwords and other sensitive information or clicks on a link that infects their computer with malware. For SMBs, a good way to fight these attacks is to install anti-spam software and anti-virus software and make sure it’s kept up to date. Email filtering software can help as well. In addition, it’s wise to have a sound email policy in place and make sure your employees are educated about the dangers of phishing. Your email policy should spell out the warning signs of a phishing attack and provide steps to take when an email is received requesting passwords or sensitive data. Having a set policy can make a significant difference in whether or not your company ends up a phishing victim.”
Stay tuned for more tips on how to protect your sensitive email data.