Chapter 2: Uncovering Unauthorized Instant Messaging Use in Your Office

Overview

Employers cannot afford to ignore IM. If employees are tapping your organization’s resources and time to engage in instant messaging, they are creating potential business, legal, regulatory, and public relations problems for your organization.

It’s not uncommon for employees to use IM without the knowledge of management. In spite of numerous risks, millions of ‘‘ renegade’’ employees are probably chatting at this moment— unencumbered by IM rules, policies, or procedures of any kind.

IM Rule # 6: Unauthorized, unrestricted instant messaging use is simply bad practice.

Responsible employers have an obligation to discover whether or not employees are using IM, under what circumstances they are using it, with whom they are chatting, and what type of content they are sending and receiving.

As an employer in the age of instant messaging, you cannot afford to wait any longer. The risks inherent in unmanaged IM use range from lawsuits and loss of confidential data, to security breaches and lost productivity—risks that are too costly to ignore.

IM Rule # 7: Act now to uncover unauthorized instant messaging use.