Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Why You Shouldn't Use Outlook Rules to Intercept Your Boss's E-mails

by Terrence O'Brien on December 16, 2010 at 10:10 AM

Outlook LogoBig surprise! Turns out that forwarding your boss's e-mail to yourself with Outlook rules is quite illegal. Ars Technica reports that David Szymuszkiewicz, now a former IRS worker, learned this the hard way after being convicted on wiretapping charges under the U.S. Wiretap Act.

Already in hot water for driving drunk with a suspended license, Szymuszkiewic's job required he drive to the homes of delinquent tax payers. Out of fear for his job, Szymuszkiewicz set up a rule on his supervisor Nella Infusino's Outlook application that forwarded any e-mails sent to her. These messages were forwarded to Szymuszkiewicz's inbox, and filed away in a personal folder. Infusino eventually discovered the rule three years later after being trained on the e-mail app.

Szymuszkiewicz tried to argue that he should be charged under the Stored Communications Act, because he only received the messages after they'd been delivered to Infusino's computer, to which Chief Judge Frank Easerbrook remarked, "It is risky to defend against one crime by admitting another." The important distinction here is how Outlook e-mail forwarding works. Outlook rules function on the server end (a machine in Kansas City, in this case), which means the e-mail wasn't received on Infusino's computer and then forwarded along. Despite the rather serious charges, Szymuszkiewicz was sentenced to a relatively lenient 18 months probation. Then again, 18 months might seem pretty harsh for changing an Outlook menu setting.

Tags: crime, David Szymuszkiewicz, DavidSzymuszkiewicz, e-mail, email, microsoft outlook, MicrosoftOutlook, outlook, top, wiretapping

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular