Ignorance Is Not Bliss

By Stephanie Jordan
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In my research for the cover story on Classification & Retention I was struck by how long the list of basic record retention requirements has become—and we presented just a sampling! For folks responsible, be it IT Managers, or Security and Compliance Officers, or CTOs, the business of running the business has become a lot more intricate in regards to retention of business records. Now with email as the repository of corporate information, the need to understand what is coming and going from an organization’s network has never been greater. Plus the stakes are becoming higher as enforcement activities increase.

Also in this issue, we offer two related topics. In Spam: Bigger, Faster, and More Dangerous we review the latest trends. Spam just celebrated its 30th anniversary; it is proving to be a problem that gets more and more complex as time goes by. We also look at reputation, which is a topic that intrigues me because it can be interpreted in a variety of ways, and have different meanings to different people. For this issue, we look at Bad Behavior and Today’s Reputation Analysis, which offers examples of two companies that have recognized the need to go beyond IP-based DNS blacklists to analyze a senders’ reputation.

With the growing complexity of messaging, many are turning to outsourcing, rather than trying to handle everything alone. In Serving Up Managed and Hosted Messaging Solutions, we investigate the growing trend of large organizations choosing this option. Another trend to explore is the shifting of collaboration tools. In The Changing Locus of Collaboration, Michael Sampson reviews how new tools are impacting the collaboration world.

While finalizing this issue, I am in the midst of attending the Authentication & Online Trust Summit 2008. I enjoyed moderating a session that reviewed the State of the Union on email and domain authentication. The presenters were Pablo Stern of Symantec and Patrick Peterson of Cisco/IronPort. Our session and others brought about good discussion, which will make excellent fodder for future stories. I look forward to sharing them with you.

Enjoy the issue and safe messaging.

Published June 1, 2008