A major bank was surprised when, without warning, several key employees left and started a competing brokerage services firm. E-mail archives provided evidence that these employees were plotting their departure, making plans and obtaining client information while still employed by the bank. Consequently, the bank initiated litigation claiming the former employees violated the terms of their employment.

It would have been much easier and less costly if, through internal e-mail monitoring, these infractions had been discovered at the time they occurred. The bank, in this case, would have been in a strong position to take immediate disciplinary action and pre-empt the damage that was ultimately done.

Most of the focus for e-mail content control (ECC) has been directed at traditional inbound and, more recently, outbound e-mail monitoring applications. The requirement for protection from external threats like viruses and spam (inbound content control) is well understood. Increasing regulatory compliance obligations, combined with growing concerns over possible sensitive information leakage, are fueling the demand for outbound e-mail content control solutions.

Internal e-mail content control, a very important piece of the overall content control puzzle, is often overlooked. As enterprises gain more experience with their initial ECC efforts, a more comprehensive view and ECC strategy is required to monitor, manage and control the processing of all e-mail content whether inbound, outbound or internal.