Harrington sets up her e-mail address book so she can send messages to different groups of contacts and colleagues, depending on the nature of the question. Risk managers need information as quickly as possible,'' he says, noting that professionals join associations and go to conferences because they need to keep up to date on their field and collaborate with colleagues. You can't go to a conference every day, but if people form a networking group, they can have a conference every day,'' Poppell observes. Data Risks One of the risks of this virtual community, however, is data security. Risk managers should be certain the information they share over the Internet is not proprietary information, Poppell says.
Many companies have policies relevant to sharing information.
The policies for electronic communication are probably very similar to, if not the same as, the policies for hard-copy information, he adds. For example, do not distribute outside the company any information marked data secure, proprietary or restricted. Other information that may be considered proprietary is anything that is strictly relevant or particularly linked to a company's performance, finances or risks. Poppell says general trends, facts or documents prepared for public consumption, such as studies or reports. Receiving proprietary information may also be a risk, he says, especially if that information is then passed on to another person or organization.