We outline a solution for combating e-mail porn in the workplace.
The e-mailing of pornographic material in the workplace is a fast-growing problem for security managers. Indeed, the CSI 2000 Computer Crime and Security Survey showed that one in every four of all e-mail image attachments are pornographic, and that nearly 80% of employers have detected some form of abuse of the Internet at work.

In addition, it's estimated that no less than 27% of all Fortune 500 companies have had to battle harassment claims based on lewd e-mails. Reputational damage is a further unwanted by-product for a host of companies.

A good many blue chip clients, then, are anxious to find ways of combating what is a very serious problem – both in terms of security breaches and lost productivity in the office. It's the security manager's job to help his employer avoid the possibility of legal action from employees claiming harassment or unfair dismissal as a result of circulating pornographic material in the workplace.

With this in mind, Internet security specialist MessageLabs has joined forces with First 4 Internet to co-produce a porn filtering service that makes use of Image Composition Analysis software at the Internet level. This provides the artificial intelligence needed to read and analyse image content and intercept suspect material before it reaches customers' network boundaries.

The system effectively allows the end user to 'take control', as they are able to choose from high, medium and low filtering settings according to e-mail security policies. In practice, suspected e-mails will either be blocked, tagged or redirected depending on end user needs.

The Image Composition Analysis software uses over 22,000 separate algorithms to define the content of any one image without hindering the speed at which the software operates. In comparison, existing anti-porn software tends to be based on skin tone analysis, URL blockers or word filter programs.