The legal risks of uncontrolled IM use

Golf?

Can we now ban Golf on the same basis? People talk about business all the time on the golf course ... it's a legal swamp...

People are people

"but is it really appropriate for a bunch of employees (say testers) to be griping about how buggy some software is as they go about their business of testing it?"

No, it's not appropriate. In the sense that it's not professional. But people are people, and they will bitch about stuff. Difference with IM is that it's all logged, so be careful out there...

Big Brother is at it again

If anyone should be harrassed or bullied via IM then the necessary mechanisms are already there, from "Hey look everyone, come and see what XXXXX has just said to me!", to Cntrl-PrntScrn followed by an email to HR...

They'll be opening all our mail next...

@Bassey

Software and Consultancy house.

Heavy IM (Pidgin, etc) and VOIP (Skype, etc) user for internal comms (rivalling, if not beating, email already); not so much with clients, although Skype is sometimes used.

Only advice I have is not to use MSN Messenger. It suffers from virus attacks and has intrusive adverts, use Pidgin instead.

For this one, I go Anon....

"but is it really appropriate for a bunch of employees (say testers) to be griping about how buggy some software is as they go about their business of testing it?"

Shock! Horror! Someone dares to comment on their job in a manner unacceptable to their corporate overlords! Someone who might, even, be speaking the truth! Unacceptable! Terminate their employment!

Perhaps, if companies weren't so unaccountable for poor products, unfair business practices, profiteering at the cost health and safety, willing to cust corners to save costs, unfair on their employees in a myriad different ways; or even if their were just PLAIN HONEST then this would be a non-issue.

Never mind the truth, eh? we'll just silence those we don't like.

Heads up, corporate world, if you keep treating your employees like dumb robots sooner or later you will face rebellion, public humiliation and ultimately; collapse under the weight of your own convoluted, self-destructive policies.

(On an aside, I work for a large corporation and we use internal and external IM constantly)

Well, FWIW...

...I'm looking at possibly implementing Spark + Openfire here with external gateways and appropriate message logging on the basis that I'd rather create an approved route with controls than play whackamole with whatever IM players come up with to get around network restrictions.

BT

Been using it at BT since 1990, so it must be really risky stuff then?

Mines the dust jacket on the hook.

Off The Record

I use OTR for all the IM conversations I have regularly, it means that no one can prove what I have or have not said and there is no record kept by me or anyone else.

Sometimes you need to be able to have a good moan to a trusted colleague or friend, and you don't want the manglement to know about it.

Trying to ban this sort of usage is going to be difficult.

Interesting article, but it also demonstrates...

One of the signs of a new regime... "IM" as opposed to "the IM"? I am rather fond of the google, but not so fond of the email. We can call it Register now.

Don't allow egress anything, unless it's through a proxy. Piggybacks on HTTP, you say? The IDS/IPS filters could be written by a talented monkey. We must allow business to do its business, you say? Ahh, the crux of it...

The email has evolved such that the balance between its value as a business tool and weight of the associated risk has tipped toward the former, as security has caught-up. The IM will get there; if it is useful for business, security will catch-up. As per usual, there's a cost to doing business.

I strapped this comment to the leg of a swallow, which did fly to the home of Register. Both I and Register inspected the swallow, both laden and unladen, for signs of disease, upon egress and ingress. African when it left, European as it arrived, if you must know (for customs purposes).