E-mail Etiquette

And more……
‘Leadership and communication are inseparable. You
can’t have one without the other.’ ---Claude I. Taylor
General E-mail Etiquette Rules
ALL CAPS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING
So is over punctuating!!!!!!
Not using capitalization or punctuation makes e-mail
hard to read
Text messaging abbreviations r confusing 2 ur co-
workers
Avoid emoticons
Explain Acronyms
Check spelling and grammar before sending
Keep slang at a minimum
Think of these before you hit send
Needed (Does the recipient need this to do their job)
Timely
Relevant
Complete
Appropriate
Compliant (e-discovery)
Professional
Inoffensive
Targeted
Limit use of Reply to all
Limit use of CC/BC
Use Distribution Lists Carefully
Best Channel
Format your e-mails
We need to test the upgrade before we proceed with
the pilot in Pediatric Otolaryngology.  Does the project
have the funding to purchase a couple of the hardware
upgrades so I can test with in this area?  I can provide
you a quote from Insight for the upgrade.  I need to
verify that it works as advertised before we advertise
that we can do this for all devices.
Paragraphs and bullets clarify
We need to test the upgrade before we proceed with the
pilot in Pediatric Otolaryngology. 

Does the project have the funding to purchase a couple

of the hardware upgrades so I can test with in this area? 

I will
1. provide you a quote from Insight for the upgrade 
2. verify that it works as advertised before mass
deployment
Building better e-mails
Strengthen the Subject
Sculpt the body
Strengthen the Subject
Use Keywords in Subject line
Action: Prepare slides for Leadership Breakfast on June
17
Info: Update on E-mail Etiquette Presentation
Confirmed: Presentation will be ready for review on June
6th
Delivery: Slide pack for June 17th Leadership Breakfast
Entire message in subject line
June 17th Leadership Breakfast Slides looks good (eom)
Sculpt the Body
Break message into sections
Action summary – What is the point of the e-mail
Background – Detail, but organize into
 Key points
 Definitions
 If audience is in the know do not go into complete history

Close – Next steps or actions items

If you include attachments give explanation of what
they are.
Rules
3 Volley Rule
If a topic is bounced back and forth more than 3 times it
is time to pick up the phone or schedule a meeting.
24 Hour Rule
It is okay to write a heated e-mail, just wait 24 hours
before you send it.
The Noise
Daily approximately 180 billion emails are sent
An estimated 100 billion of these emails may be unsolicited
Unwanted email
Phishing
 Appear to be from legitimate site, businesses
 Request personal or financial information

 Only work if you click or respond, best to just delete

Spam
 Ads and scams
 Replying or unsubscribing validates your address for more spam

 Do not reply, delete email

Virus
 Installed software without knowledge or consent
 Computer use monitored and controlled

 You must click or open program to infect

Why?
What is the point of these E-Mails?
Money - #1 reason
Selling information on black market
 Health Care – approximately $50 per account
 Credit Cards – approximately $2-3 per account

Who is behind this?

Average hackers/scammers
Organized criminals
 Wording to make you
feel that you have to
comply or you cannot
access your money.

No specific time to
comply

Leaves no way to contact

someone to verify authenticity.
 When you hover over
links you see that they
don’t go to where you
expect them.
 Never open an
attachment from
someone you do not
know.
 Support groups will never ask
for you to send you user id and
password via e-mail
Who to contact?
E-Mail Address to know

Report abusive e-mails to abuse@wustl.edu

Report Incidents to incidents@wusm.wustl.edu

Security Questions to infosec@wusm.wustl.edu

Information Security Web Portal

http://portal.wusm.wustl.edu/mscits/informationsecurity
Future Topics
How to protect information?
Safe computing for home and your children?
Electr0nic Discovery?