No company wants to be put in the position of Sony: hacked, with thousands of valuable internal documents published widely online. But the proliferation of hacking and the ease with which even government databases can be accessed makes it clear that there is very little security on the Internet.
This crisis presents one more important lesson. While we have little control over our Internet security, we can control what we say online, including in emails. We can:
– Be brief.
– Stick to the facts.
– Avoid acknowledging, participating in or responding to conversations that would be embarrassing or harmful to us or others if made public.
– Pick up the phone when you want to keep a conversation private.
The immediacy and convenience of email communication can make it difficult to adopt those guidelines. But they represent a large step for safer online discussions, something we should all strive for.