"I didn't get it..." excuses increase

The age old statement that "I didn't get it" might have been down to a poor postal service but, more likely, it was an excuse used by lazy or inefficient office workers. Similar statements about non-receipt of e-mail could often be quickly dismissed by informing them that since mail had not been 'bounced' back to the sender, it was probable that they had received it.

However, we are starting to see a considerable increase in the number of e-mail messages disappering into black holes because of understandable, but misguided, reactions to virus, worm and other security attacks.

Bad implementation of Spam Filters, Firewalls, etc. has led to many businesses simply not being aware that valid mail is neither being received by the addressee NOR is it being bounced back to the sender. The result is starting to become a serious disruption to what has become normal business communication. We predict that this problem will grow.

If you are being alerted by business contacts that your mail is not getting through or visa versa, do not ignore the problem - it will not go away. Get a qualified person to look at the email delivery and receipt systems to make sure that they are set up correctly.

Please post comments on this issue if have experienced these problems.