Although e-mail has earned a reputation as a convenient and effective communication tool, it is a major source of data breaches and cybercrime. Human error in particular, such as unintentionally sharing confidential information or clicking on malicious links, can have far-reaching consequences. These include privacy damage to data subjects, interruption of services and financial fraud.
E-mail is one of the most vulnerable points when it comes to cybersecurity. Consequently, several studies confirm that a large proportion of successful cyberattacks are related to e-mail use. Or rather, misuse of e-mail.
For example, Microsoft states that phishing, the method of attack in which attackers try to extract information through misleading emails, is responsible for nearly 70 percent of data breaches. Sending malware via e-mail is also a proven method for attackers to gain a foothold within an organization.
Almost every organization is vulnerable via email
A large majority will face attacks regardless. Network security provider Barracuda writes in its latest survey that 75 percent of 1,350 organizations surveyed will have been victims of a successful e-mail attack by 2022. The statement, "But my small organization is not interesting enough," shows naiveté. Every company has something to lose, and smaller organizations in particular are interesting to them because of the generally lower level of security.
Either way, data breaches and cybercrime often have people as their source. For example, the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report shows that many attacks (via e-mail) are the result of human error and intentional malicious actions by "internal actors," or in-house employees. These are the most common mistakes made:
- E-mail accidentally sent to the wrong recipient
- Attaching the wrong document to an e-mail
- Forwarding an email conversation to an unwanted/non-authorized recipient
- Email sent via 'To' or 'CC' when it should have been 'BCC' to guard privacy
FileCap as antidote to errors with email
FileCap helps you avoid mistakes. First, FileCap includes all kinds of security features to verify the recipient (multiple times). If e-mail is sent via FileCap, then it can be enforced from management that a secure authentication method must be used. (In the case of a password, this may also require a high level of complexity.)
In addition, FileCap provides Data Leakage Prevention to scan messages for sensitive content. If you have accidentally attached a document with confidential content, file transfers can be forced through FileCap, allowing email to always be retrieved at a later time.
Email and file recovery with FileCap
Perhaps this recall is FileCap's most important functionality. After all, as a user, you can block previously sent emails and attachments from the recipient at any time, which quickly completely undoes a mistake. Is it a deliberate action by a user? Even then there is no man or woman overboard. After all, administrators can see from the admin environment exactly which external files have been shared with others and the security methods used. Is it not trusted? Then access to these files can be revoked from the admin.
So you can see that FileCap offers multi-level security to prevent and fix (un)conscious mistakes with email. Especially when combined with additional security products for scanning incoming attachments, you can build a rock-solid line of defense against data breaches and cybercrime via email.
