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Computerworld - Employees seeking feedback in technical mail lists, help postings or chat rooms can leak sensitive corporate information out onto the Web, says Lawrence Rogers, senior technical staff member at the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

But there are ways employees can use such Web resources safely, says Bill Hancock, vice president of security at Exodus Communications Inc., a company owned by London-based Cable & Wireless PLC. He suggests that companies advise their employees to keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Be anonymous. When asking questions, don't use company names or e-mail addresses, and don't use your full name.


• Read more and post less.


• Be as vague as possible with the information you share, if you can't find the answer and you must post.

Hancock also says companies should have strong penalties for downloading or mailing corporate intranet pages and e-mail messages outside the corporate firewall.

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