E-mail that costs you a billion dollars

As far as slip ups with technology go, this one is pretty major. A lawyer for drug manufacturer Eli Lilly thought she was sending an email to her co-counselor on a billion dollar case.

Unfortunately, her co-counselor shared the same last name as a person doing a story on the matter with the New York Times. He already knew about the deal but didn’t have enough sources confirming the story to make it public. That is, until he received the mistaken e-mail.

The story exposed details of a billion dollar private settlement that would have otherwise remained confidential.

Here’s the story.

What’s the lesson here for your personal email, business email, and super-duper-uber private messages?

HT to NPR