Does Email Pose a Risk to Your Company's Data Security and Regulatory Compliance?

Email is fundamental to business communication.

But is this commonplace, everyday electronic correspondence a threat to your company's data security and regulatory compliance?

It very well could be, and according to a recent study by Zix Corporation and Ponemon Institute, IT professionals are growing increasingly concerned about these risks, especially now that more and more business is conducted outside the office using mobile devices.

The survey, which received feedback from 830 IT and IT security practitioners, as well as IT compliance, legal and other specialists, found that:


The majority of respondents strongly agrees or agrees that the use of email by employees is one of the main sources of data leakage in their organizations.


Most (70 percent) of respondents are concerned about the loss of information via email on mobile.


Nearly 70 percent believe employees ignore policies about emailing unencrypted sensitive or confidential documents through insecure channels.



Six in ten (63 percent) believe employees mistakenly send unencrypted confidential information to other recipient(s) outside the workplace.


More than 60 percent believe employees send unencrypted confidential information through insecure email channels, such as personal web-based email.


"Email is essential to business productivity and collaboration. It is such a significant tool that employees are inclined to circumvent policy and email sensitive information, so they can effectively perform their responsibilities in a timely manner," said Dr. Larry Ponemon, Chairman and Founder of Ponemon Institute. "Companies can prevent such data breaches and relieve compliance concerns by using policy-based email encryption, which enables email capabilities and removes employee liabilities."

These results are yet another clear indication that for most companies, it's time to update processes and policies to mitigate risks and successfully manage the complexities of security and compliance today.