Time to get your Greynet policies in order

We've discussed the use of instant messaging in the office and the Sarbanes-Oxley implications. Many firms have moved to store all such communication and impose a measure of control via enterprise IM systems, like Microsoft's Live Communications Server or IBM's Lotus Sametime. It would be easy to argue that you would want to re-think your approach to all so-called greynet apps, not only IM but also file sharing and other personal programs that the IT department has not sanctioned. You certainly don't want your company's computers used for activity that might infringe copyrights. You also can be forgiven if you want your bandwidth to be used for corporate purposes. And the threat that such apps can be used by rogue employees to leak sensitive data is real. One vendor survey has found that greynet app use is soaring. Chances are you've tried to "lay down the law." Most companies have. Foster City, Calif.-based FaceTime--surprise, the same one that did the survey--has raised brows for its solution.  

For more:
- here's an article from Enterprise Networking Planet