Many companies are destroying e-mails too soon or storing them externally, and often do not realise that this is a serious offence and they are putting their companies at a grave security risk.
According to Helaine Leggat, marketing consultant from Michalsons ICT Attorneys, it is important for companies to keep e-mails from as far back as 15 years.
She explains that, according to Section 90 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, any person who destroys, damages, or alters a record commits an offence and is liable for conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years.
Tim Knowles, CEO of StorTech, says storage limitations were found to be a leading cause for information security being jeopardised, as 51% of companies save their e-mail externally.
Knowles also stresses that 75% of an organisation`s intellectual property can be found in e-mails.
"SA is relatively immature when it comes to e-mail security," explains Rob Watson, head of security business development at StorTech. "And it could be constituted as a 'weak` back door into international companies."
Overwhelming volume
"According to a local Symantec study, e-mail volumes in SA have grown by 47% in the last year, making it the highest growth in the world," explains Knowles.
"Twenty-eight percent of SA employees are sending between 20 and 29 e-mails per day. This creates a huge problem for storage."
Reasons for the increasing volumes in e-mail can be attributed to local businesses conducting more electronic business than before, and SA adopting international practises, explains Watson.
SA has also been receiving huge amounts of spam, now accounting for 60% of e-mail.
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