More than 40% of large U.S. employers monitor employee e-mail

More than four out of 10 large U.S. employers designate workers to review employee e-mails, announced electronic messaging security firm Proofpoint Inc. The company surveyed 301 U.S. organizations with more than 1,000 employees, as well as 32 UK firms, 30 German firms, 31 French firms and 30 Australian firms. The 40% figure attributed to large employers pertained to those with workforces in excess of 20,000. Aside from those large employers, Proofpoint noted that 29% of all the U.S. firms it polled said they had staff members whose jobs were to read employee e-mails. An additional 15% expressed plans to designate individuals to do so in the future. Some 44% of U.S. firms surveyed said that they had looked into e-mail-related security breaches during the preceding year (“Survey Finds,” 2008).