Legality and Policies


Legality, like security, is usually ignored until it is too late. Operating without sufficient protective policy is only profitable until the first lawsuit.

Policies are what companies can use to protect themselves from hackers, malicious users, and litigation, especially in cases where federal or state law does not apply. For example...

Let's say a certain computer company notices that one of it's employees is downloading lots of pornography while at work. Let us also say that this certain company dismisses said employee and is then hit with a wrongful dismissal lawsuit by the employees lawyers. If this certain company has documented policy signed and acknowledged by the former employee spelling out that such activities are grounds for dismissal, they will have a very good chance of winning the lawsuit.

This is because, while federal law has certain restrictions about child pornography, it has really nothing about legitimate practices while on the job. This is left up to employers to control. Without such policy, the certain company would have a much more difficult time winning the case.

This brings up another good question; how much privacy does an employee have? Was it an invasion of privacy for the certain company to monitor the employees web traffic? The answer to both questions is usually no. While the employee is using company equipment and or company networks, the company is within its rights to monitor, record, and even read what its employees are doing.

One of the more famous computer crime cases in recent years is the "State of Oregon v. Randal Schwartz" You can read all about the case in the references section below.

References


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K. Scott Rowe