Computer security company Symantec has released Enterprise Vault 10, the new version of its email and content archiving software.

The updated offering now features Symantec’s data loss prevention technology which can be used to analyse Microsoft Exchange email content and metadata to help determine the archiving and retention strategy for all messages.

Symantec said that the tool automatically classifies and assigns the appropriate archiving and retention policy for email content and metadata, which can even be flagged to be reviewed for compliance reasons.

Another new feature of Enterprise Vault 10 is the ability to archive all social media interactions for compliance and eDiscovery purposes, said the company.

Symantec vice-president of product management Brian Dye said businesses have learned how important it is to protect and preserve email, IM, documents, spreadsheets and other unstructured information, and they’re learning that the same is true for social media records.

Dye said, "We’ve increased the scale and performance of Enterprise Vault so our customers can effectively archive and eDiscovery the millions of records employees are creating by email, social media, SharePoint and file systems. Enterprise Vault 10 can significantly reduce risks, especially for organizations in highly litigious or regulated industries, without inhibiting the business and productivity benefits of social media and collaboration tools."

IT organizations worldwide are mandated by corporate governance, legal and compliance groups to implement organization-wide retention policies on their information assets.

The Data Classification Service feature of Enterprise Vault 10 utilizes Symantec’s data loss prevention technology to automatically classify the email and assign an appropriate archiving and retention policy, said the company.

Enterprise Vault 10 automatically archives social media interactions for compliance, eDiscovery and corporate governance purposes. Organizations can comply with requirements for social media communications without restricting or banning the use of those tools.

Enterprise Vault also adds new integration with Symantec’s encryption technologies.