October 31, 2003
Volume 1, Number 6

  The Safe Side of the Send Button

  Securing Your E-Mail

  By Dr. Dees Stallings

In today's writing-intensive environment, e-mail provides great benefits.  It can also   jeopardize the security of an individual, an organization, or a nation.  Today, there are some excellent products on the market to increase e-mail security. 

However, none of them can substitute for human safeguards against negligence or carelessness.  As Michael Tucker, editor of SC, a leading US computer security magazine, stated in 1999, "The greatest threat you face is not the viruses or the hackers or whatever, but rather complacency."  This is still true in our post 9/11 e-mail environment. 

Consider whether:

q       With a hasty click of the send button, you could send information to hostile readers.

q       By mishandling of addresses, you can send damaging information to foes.

q       By allowing original messages to which you are responding to go forward with your reply, you may be able to disclose confidential information to those who should not see it.

q       By careless labeling of files, you may send out information that should not be disclosed.

q       Through a wordy and unfocused style, you may be unintentionally revealing information about yourself and your organization.

If you answered "yes," to any of these, you need to reduce the risk of your e-mail procedures.

Here are a few basic procedural tips to keep your e-mail more secure:

1. Do not sacrifice security because you are in a hurry.  

2. Avoid "Reply All," especially if the list of addressees is long.

3. Set up a file labeling system that will identify documents by information sensitivity.

4. Sequence your actions in e-mail communications to reduce risk of accidental disclosure, specifically:

A. Write the message first,

B. Then compose the subject line;

C. Then spell check and proofread,

D. Then put in the addressees last. 

5. Habitually read attachments before sending them.

How can you tell whether you are a potential security risk?  One sign: If you're catching messages with errors and incorrect addresses at the last second, and have to cancel transmission, then you are one step away from a disaster.  My advice is to slow down, and follow the procedures above.

Loose Lips in Cyberspace: Readable Writing is More Secure

Loose and rambling writing often unintentionally reveals hidden information about writers and organizations.  When you compose a readable, sharply-focused "bottom line" and main supporting points for your message, and use other techniques for clear writing, your communication is under control, and will convey only what you intend.  At the same time, avoid excessively brief, "telegraphic" sentences, which can be interpreted in more than one way by your intended readers.

Tip: Review your messages for unnecessary information and wordiness, and "scrub" them for clarity.  Encrypt when necessary.

Dr. Dees Stallings is Managing Director and Chief Learning Officer of High Stakes Writing, LLC, (www.highstakeswriting.com) where he focuses on safer and more efficient e-mail for government and business. Dr. Stallings was chief of the Army Communicative Skills Office in the Center for Army Leadership, Command and General Staff College, which manages all Army training in writing, speaking, reading, listening, memory, and reasoning.  Before that he was Director of a 400-person telecommunications training department (Switching Department) at the Army Signal Center, Fort Gordon, GA, where he also wrote the installation's Information Systems Plan.