Companies use and continue to develop internal intranet systems to manage their sociotechnical applications. The intranet applications are designed to support the human–computer interaction (HCI) process, but they are typically proprietary to company employees.

Given the ongoing expansion of these sociotechnical applications, conduct substantive research on these applications and respond to the following questions:

• What are some examples of the consequences of outsiders gaining access to intranet data and proprietary information?
• What are some steps that employees can take to protect a company’s intranet data and proprietary information from outsiders?
• What types of company information should employees not share with one another and why?
• What should companies do to ensure that employees maintain professionalism and etiquette when using intranet and collaboration applications?