Ineffective communication - why Internet policy is often ignored.

According to this year’s Price Waterhouse Coopers and DTI 2006 information Security Breaches Survey, most organisations now have an Internet policy in place.

So why is the Internet policy frequently ignored? Why, even with many security filters and controls available, do Internet policy breaches still occur? What are the issues that lead companies to turn to PolicyMatter to manage that Internet policy?

General Internet policy requirements

Internet policy should reflect the organisation’s strategic goals
Internet policy must be aligned with legislation and industry codes of practice
a good Internet policy should be written in plain English rather than jargon
the Internet policy should reflect the individual company’s culture

Looking at it, many organisations have created an Internet policy that comfortably meets all the above requirements. It’s not the Internet policy in itself where things fall apart. It’s in the shortcomings of traditional policy communication and management approaches.

Challenges:

just posting the Internet policy to the Intranet inevitably means many people ignore it
Internet policy hidden in the staff handbook ends up on a shelf, gathering dust
first day induction schemes frequently leave staff overwhelmed with information
attaching the Internet policy to an email leaves it liable to be ignored

With all the above, it leaves the owner of the Internet policy short in key areas. No effective record of who has read and agreed to it. Unable to ensure staff have read and agreed to the Internet policy. No effective measures to manage the inevitable changes occuring in the course of the Internet policy’s lifetime.

Hence PolicyMatter. PolicyMatter ensures staff read the Internet policy, show they’ve understood it, and lets the managers responsible for the Internet policy run audit trails tracking acceptance across the organisation. As it evolves, PolicyMatter also minimizes costs across its life cycle by automating changes and re-presenting the Internet policy on a regular basis if required. And to complete the security loop, PolicyMatter integrates with leading security filters to make sure the Internet policy is being implemented

PolicyMatter benefits for effective Internet policy management

clear, effective Internet policy presentation
ability to ensure staff read, understand and accept policy
management reporting and audit trails
full, automated life-cycle management of the Internet policy

PolicyMatter. Internet policy communication. Internet policy enforcement. Full Internet policy life-cycle management. To find out more, take a closer look at our policy management software.

Provide feedback

Print page