Some data breaches are accidental and can be avoided. Emails containing personal information that get deleted erroneously and messages with sensitive data sent to incorrect recipients are both examples of actions that lead to unintended breaches.
While such breaches are possible to dodge with appropriate care and attention, other incidents are harder to prevent. When a malicious actor enters your company email accounts with stolen credentials or using a brute force attack to crack your passwords, they can access a wide range of confidential content sitting at rest in your business email system. This not only includes the emails of your frontline staff who deal with customer PII, but also your CEO and financial director.
Emails on the move can also be intercepted by attackers. Once in their possession, they can exploit the breached information in many ways, from charging a ransom to avoid disclosure to stealing information and selling it at a price to other attackers. Either way, all these unwanted incidents represent a breach.
In this blog, we’ll look at how email encryption can stop intentional data breaches. Read on to find out more.
Protecting emails at rest and on the move
End-to-end email encryption is designed to provide robust protection, whether your messages are in transmission or at rest in accounts. Encryption software uses an algorithm to render emails indecipherable to unauthorised entities. Only the sender and their target recipient can view the contents of an email. As a result, whether a malicious actor invades your accounts or intercepts an email enroute, they will be unable to steal your data or even read it.
Using data encryption is recognised by data regulators as an effective measure against a breach. As a result, providing that encryption was deployed on an email that leads to an incident, your company will not face a penalty.
Furthermore, even if one of your staff send a sensitive communication to an incorrect email address, if it is via email encryption, no data breach will occur.
Important email encryption points
The best policy for every firm is to encrypt all emails rather than just sensitive material. Not only is it easier for staff to remember when to use it, but it also prevents you drawing unwanted attention to your most private messages should a threat actor penetrate your network.
It is also important to select a user-friendly solution that delivers strong protection but is simple for your team to add to their emails. Finally, make sure that the product you pick provides encryption for any email attachments that you send, as these are often the most confidential part of a business email.
Avoid data breaches at your firm with encryption
Approved for use by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), our email encryption solution wraps every one of your emails in three powerful layers of protection. We also offer a diverse range of advanced email security tools, from email time-out and sender verification to tracking and alerts. Reach out to us now to experience our solution first-hand on a free trial.
