Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
auditing.ability.is.to.create.and.maintain.documentation.of.all.
of.the.different.types.of.databases.you.or.your.organization.
own,.where.the.databases.are.stored.physically.and.logically,.
and.who.owns,.controls,.and.administers.the.databases.
To.that.end.it.is.highly.recommended.(and.even.required.
under. some. court. rules. and. regulations). that. you. or. your.
organization. makes. an. effort. to. create. such. a. reference..
Think. about. all. of. the. databases. you. or. your. organization.
has.access.to.and.document.the.contact.information.for.the.
custodians.and.administrators.of.those.databases..I.guarantee.
you.will.ind.this.an.extremely.valuable.exercise.and.source.
of.information.
3.4 E-MAIL SYSTEMS
E-mail. is. perhaps. the. largest. and. most. well-known. reposi-
tory. of. electronic. information.. Anyone. who. pays. attention.
to.the.news.knows.that.it.is.also.one.of.the.most.often.con-
tentious. and. litigious. information. sources.. Many. examples.
can.be.found.of.organizations.and.individuals.whose.inances.
and.reputations.suffered.because.of.poor.e-mail.management.
practices.. For. resources. that. document. case. law. and. news.
items.please.refer.to.Appendix.A.
There.are.many.different.types.of.e-mail.systems..At.home.
you.might.use.an.e-mail.system.connected.to.your.Internet.
Service.Provider.(ISP),.such.as.AOL,.Comcast,.or.Sprint..Or.
you.might.use.one.of.the.popular.online.e-mail.tools,.such.as.
Google's. gmail. or. Microsoft's. MSN. or. Hotmail.. These. sys-
tems. are. hosted. on. the. provider's. servers,. and. those. elec-
tronic.records.are.usually.available.only.to.you..Some.version.
of.those.records.may.also.be.stored.on.your.local.computer..
Law.enforcement.can.sometimes.get.access.to.those.records.
that.your.provider.keeps,.but.they.need.a.subpoena.and.that.
requires.(and.should).a.very.sound.justiication.before.a.judge.
In.the.work.environment,.e-mail.systems.are.often.much.
larger.and.more.complex.and.are.generally.hosted.on.servers.
within. the. enterprise.. Again,. there. are. several. well-known.
