11/29/05: Internet Filtering — Blocking Offensive Content and Access

Reprinted with permission from The Enterprise

Using very little effort on the Internet and in e-mail, you can download some of the most offensive and repulsive images ever created by mankind. Without any effort at all, you are bombarded with advertisements soliciting the purchase of this material This onslaught of offensive material creates an interesting issue for business and personal users of the Internet and of e-mail. There is no question that there is a lot of wonderful material on the Internet. Use of the Internet and e-mail continues to be a more integral component of business and personal productivity. However, the use of the Internet and e-mail is exposing organizations to risks associated with improper content and Internet usage.

Filtering Internet content and access is an issue that continues to confront organizations. If you thought the purpose of Internet filtering is to only protect your children from objectionable Internet content, think again. Business concerns are driving organizations to implement Internet filtering of content and access. More organizations are looking for Internet filtering solutions to protect themselves from the liability of employees downloading inappropriate content. Examples of Internet content that can create liability include copyrighted music files, software or pornography. Organizations are also looking to Internet filtering to mitigate unproductive Internet surfing by employees during working hours.

The risks of inappropriate Internet content and access to your organization include the following:

Copyright Infringement — Many files that are downloaded and shared are copyrighted audio and movie files. If your employees are downloading these files onto your company’s computers, your company is liable for copyright infringement. Penalties for copyright infringement include civil and criminal liability. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act specifies federal felony penalties for copyright infringement. Your company may also face civil action and face monetary penalties from this civil action.

Sexual Harassment and Felony Offenses — Some of the material that is downloaded is pornographic. If your employees are downloading pornographic material to your company’s computers, your company could be at risk for sexual harassment and hostile work environment lawsuits. Downloading some pornographic material also creates felony-level liability.

Security and Productivity Risks — Downloaded files create the following security and productivity risks:
   • Spyware in downloaded files makes it possible for outsiders to access proprietary and sensitive files stored on      your computer.
   • Hackers are distributing viruses and destructive programs by embedding them into music and movie files. The      viruses and destructive programs activate once the music and movie files are downloaded and executed on      your computer.
   • Spyware can be installed on your computer through the downloaded files. Once downloaded, it tracks the      activities of the computer user and reports them to third party organizations.
   • Music and audio files are large and can significantly slow down or clog a network when they are being      downloaded. They also take a lot of valuable computer storage space.

Mitigating Company Liability

To mitigate liability to your company associated with employees downloading music, movies and pornography using file sharing software, a company should develop corporate policy to address these issues. At a minimum the policy should include a definition of:
   • Your company;s position in support of protecting copyrighted material.
   • An employee’s roles and responsibilities related to disciplinary actions when these policies are violated.
   • The activities that the company will use to enforce appropriate action upon policy violation.
   • The company’s position on what are appropriate copying, downloading and sharing of file activities and what      are not appropriate copying, downloading and sharing of file activities.
   • The appropriate use of file sharing software.

Your employees should be trained and held accountable to uphold these policies at work.
Additionally, your company may implement software that monitors your employees Internet and desktop activities and blocks access to Internet sites that should not be visited from work computers. An example of a software application developed to monitor computer activity and to block access to selected Internet sites is Websense Inc. (www.websense.com).

Using Internet filtering technology does not guarantee that all inappropriate information will not get through the filter to your desktop. Internet filtering technology is a method of reducing the risk; it cannot eliminate the risk. Internet filters can block harmless sites or filter out harmless content. Filtering does cost money and increases IT management overhead as you implement your filtering strategy. Internet filtering can also increase an organization’s liability when filtering technology breaks down and does not filter out inappropriate material or Internet sites.

Your organization should evaluate its policy on Internet and e-mail usage. You may also consider implementing Internet filtering technology to protect your organization and employees from inappropriate content and Internet sites.

Ken Sardoni is the campus college chair for the College of Information Systems and Technology at the University of Phoenix Utah Campus. He is a former regional vice-president of the Oracle Corporation where he worked for 13 years. He also serves on the board of the Utah Information Technology Association. Send your questions and comments to ken.sardoni@phoenix.edu.