The E-Mail Archive Can Also Serve as a Security Solution

Implementing an e-mail archiving solution will enable banks to detect security breaches (e.g., sending credit card account and Social Security numbers) by implementing rules and policies that will check each e-mail being sent and flag potential violations for a compliance officer. An e-mail archiving solution allows for the immediate archival of all e-mail traffic, so there is never a question of when an e-mail record is created -- there is no time lag from when the mail reaches the banks' server to when it is archived and stored. This way, banks can be assured that there is no way to tamper with or alter any e-mail communication with their clients or even among themselves.

An e-mail archive, in a nutshell, is a system that automatically obtains messages, attachments and information about the messages from e-mail servers. It then indexes and stores that information in read-only format for a specified length of time, based on the company's or industry's retention policy. An archive also offers companies the ability to define policies, search for messages, and maintain an audit trail of who accessed a message and when. Enabling users to search their own archives and look for mail that has been inadvertently deleted helps to improve employee productivity in all areas. As well, the ability to automatically archive all e-mail traffic and attachments takes the guesswork away from employees as to what information is considered worthy of keeping -- all information is stored and made readily available for e-discovery purposes.