Thursday, 22 November 2007

Study: 70 percent of Businesses Concerned about Data Leakage via Email

70 percent of businesses are concerned about sensitive material falling into the wrong hands as a result of data leakage via email and a further 50 percent of employees admit to having accidentally sent an embarrassing or sensitive email to the wrong person from the workplace, demonstrating that email leakage is a very real concern

These results, which were consolidated from a recent research that was done by IT security and control firm Sophos, noted that such effects could potentially cause corporate embarrassment, compliance breaches and the loss of business critical information.

"As more and more business, and indeed personal interaction, is conducted via work email, the risk of slipping up and clicking send without double-checking the recipient's details is ever-growing," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"The fact that as many as half of employees have experienced that heart-stopping moment when they realise that their message is hurtling towards the wrong person shows that the human error factor is too significant to ignore. Businesses would be wise to check that their email security solutions have the facility to prevent this from happening by identifying when sensitive data or attachments are contained in the message, and if they don't, to consider a more water-tight alternative."

To combat the risk of leaked information, Sophos recommends that companies install an email security solution that enables them to scan messages for sensitive data and keywords, and that uses encryption to ensure that business critical emails are sent securely. Furthermore, an effective appliance will identify and block confidential attachments, including those that have had their file type altered by the sender.
This will ensure that accidental email loss and leakage by malicious intent are both thwarted.

"The vast majority of data leakages via email are purely accidental, so companies that put a solid solution and security policy in place, and those that educate employees on responsible email use, will mitigate the risks and dramatically reduce the possibility of critical data loss," added Cluley.