Last week, employment law attorney Sara Hutchins Jodka continued our discussion of social media ownership in the workplace by looking at a few cases that have the potential to shape this debate. This week, she outlines what employers can do to protect themselves and the social media accounts associated with the company.

By Sara Hutchins Jodka

While the issues are far from settled, the cases discussed last week are instructive. The more effort you make to protect your information and police how employees use social media sites, the more likely you will be able to argue that your information has monetary value and protect it. If your company invests or is looking to invest in marketing through social media, you should think about taking the following steps to control your social media destiny and protect your social media account ownership. read more…

If your employees use the Internet on your computers or mobile devices, you should be concerned with the findings reported in Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report, Vol. 16, which includes nuggets like “the volume of Web-based attacks per day increased by 93 percent in 2010 compared to 2009.” The report also notes the rising trends of attacks through social networks and on mobile devices.

Why You Should Be Concerned

According to the report, it only takes one user to wreak havoc on your whole system: “In most cases, a successful compromise only requires victimizing a user with access to just limited network or administrative resources. A single negligent user or unpatched computer is enough to give attackers a beachhead into an organization from which to mount additional attacks on the enterprise from within, often using the credentials of the compromised user.” read more…

Previously, attorney Brian G. Cesaratto outlined the four things you should do immediately if you suspect an employee may be trying to steal or sabotage company computer files. Now, you are ready to begin the investigation. And we pick up where the story left off . . .

You call back the head of product development. You advise her that the necessary policies are in place to conduct a full investigation of the engineer’s computer. Given the stakes involved, you decide to move forward over the weekend by having an expert come in and make a mirror image of the engineer’s computer. Doing so allows the investigation to proceed without alerting the engineer that he is under suspicion and risking the destruction of evidence that you may need later ― either for use in implementing discipline or in court. read more…

To help shed your winter and Monday blahs, we offer this special edition of our regular Friday feature—the Tech Party. Happy Monday!

Must-read article on the latest economic indicator: employers are snatching up iPads quicker than you can say “App.” I’ve raised this issue before, but will iPads replace an employee’s desktop computer? How will change the nature of work? Intriguing questions for interesting times.

Can technology give a boost to your employee wellness programs? This article suggests as much.

Useful read on why company e-mail must have that legal verbiage we sometimes see at the bottom of e-mail messages.

My favorite headline of the day: “Apple calls to award $10K, she hangs up.” If you think about it, this is actually a great PR piece for telemarketing firms.

What else is happening?

-Ralph Gaillard

The Monster Mash (up):  Interesting read on what happens when you link one social media application to another and you end up, unintentionally, spamming & annoying your friends.

The issue of how far to go in monitoring workplace communications continues to challenge event the savviest of HR pros. However, this example shows one organization that pushed the envelope too far and crossed that fine, delicate line.

And, speaking of monitoring and privacy. Here’s a sinister post on what could happen if/when the tech gadgets get smart enough to start…monitoring us! Cue the dramatic music: “DON, DON, DAAA!”

Google continues its bid for dominance of the tech universe with yet another innovation that will make online searches, as we know them, obsolete.

Finally, with the weekend upon us, here’s a Web site that tests your online sobriety. I’m not kidding. The site, Social Media Sobriety Test, prevents you from engaging in “drunk Facebooking” by testing whether you’re sober to post pictures or “tweets” to your Facebook or Twitter pages.

What else is happening?

-Ralph Gaillard