ALERT – If you don't, your employees probably do. There is a lot of stock discussion that goes on in the financial message boards and there are many examples of well-intentioned employees responding to comments on these boards with "clarifications" to claims made.
In this weeks content release, we have added the ability to identify and control the posting of comments to the top financial message boards. These boards are a hotbed for day traders and others seeking the stock tip that will make them rich. They are also a common place for sensitive information to get leaked from within companies. These new AppIDs give administrators the ability to enable employees to browse the message boards without the risk of them succumbing to the temptation to respond to the comments on the board.
One potential solution to this problem is blocking the POST method within the HTTP flow. This is a very rudimentary way of gaining control. Many web sites use POST for normal transfer of information. It is no longer restricted to the "posting" of information to websites. Many dynamic applications will no longer function properly when taking this approach. With signatures targeted at the specific posting activity on the message boards, administrators can apply the control and avoid the backlash of complaints due to broken websites. If they choose not to block this posting activity, they will have a record of the users that are engaging in this activity, should they have a leak they need to investigate.