Your cybersecurity wish list: 6 features everyone needs in 2023

The end of 2022 is getting closer. A lot of children are now waiting, list in hand, for Santa to come down the chimney with all their presents. At Smartlockr, we are a little late with sending our letter. We hope Santa doesn’t mind as we have come up with the perfect wish list for a more secure 2023, and we would love to share it with you!

Below you’ll find all the gifts you need to protect your data and organization in the new year.

• Email security: How many emails do you send per day?
• User-friendliness: How to get your colleauges to actually follow security rules
• Human error: The threat is internal
• Single sign-on: Less is more
• Two-factor autentication: The virtual lock
• Custom security: Data protection as YOU want it

1. Email security: How many emails do you send per day?

Unsecure emailing is your biggest weakness when it comes to data breaches. That is why email security is at the top of our wish list.

Over 347 billion emails are sent every day around the world. Therefore it is hardly a surprise that a lot of these emails include sensitive information.
Of course, what is considered ‘sensitive’ differs depending on organization. If you are working with personal data, GDPR requires that you send this information with the correct encryption. But even if you don’t handle personal data regularly, we are sure your organization has information that you wouldn’t want to end up in the wrong hands. Contracts, client lists, prices and margins, patented information – the list can be made long. 

A report conducted by Verizon shows that 82% of the data breaches in their study was caused by human error. When it comes to email, ‘human error’ can include many different scenarios: To accidentally include sensitive data in an email, sending sensitive data to the wrong person or clicking a phishing link are only some examples.

Phishing is the fastest growing form of fraud.

Most of the breaches caused by human error in Verizon’s report were also made up out of phishing attacks. While only 2.9% of employees actually click on phishing links, that is still enough to make it fruitful for cybercriminals to do it. Let's put it this way: In Verizon’s report, there were 1 154 259 736 personal records breached. 2.9% of this number is 33 473 532 accounts phished.

With the right solution for secure emailing, you can protect the data that is most important to you in a GDPR approved way. And minimize the risk for phishing attacks while you do it.

Curious about how email security works? Read about it here in less than 500 words.

2. User-friendliness: How to get your colleagues to actually follow security rules

Once you get a data security solution, you want it to be as simple as possible. A study from Harvard Business Review found that 67% of their participants had at some point failed to uphold cybersecurity policies. When asked why, three responses kept coming back:

• To better accomplish tasks for their job.
• To get something they needed.
• To help others get their work done.
  
  

Only 3% of the breaches were made to cause harm to the organizations where the participants worked. That means that it is 28 times more likely that your colleagues will cause a breach in order to get their work done, as opposed to having malicious intent. This is why you need to make it as simple as possible for everyone in your organization to follow your cybersecurity policies.

You do this by creating easy-to-follow and easy-to-understand policies, together with user-friendly tools. The second part to making your colleagues follow cybersecurity procedures is of course also education: You are much more likely to follow structures if you know why they are there and what the consequences could be if you don’t.

In conclusion: Keep user-friendliness near the top of your wish list!

3. Data protection that prevents human error: The threat is internal

As we already touched on, Verizon’s report shows that an incredible 82% of all data breaches are caused by human error. When it comes to sending emails, a breach like this could be as easy as sending an email to the wrong person.

This is why it’s important to not only look at external threats. Your organization is much more likely to suffer a data breach caused by someone clicking the wrong button. 

To prevent this, you need to invest in security solutions that are focused on minimizing human error. In email security, it’s a matter of making people aware: Who are you sending your email to? Is your email addressed to someone from outside the organization? 

A way of doing this, is by having the sender confirm both the file and the recipient before sending their message. When all else fails, it is also handy to have the option to recall or block a sent message. Well, Smartlockr offers you all of that convenience in one simple package.

A small 'oops!' can lead to big consequences.

Read more: Employees, the weakest link in Data Security: Tips that will help you.

4. Single sign-on: Less is more

Single sign-on refers to employees being able to log in once and then having access to several applications and systems

Trust us, it is hard to remember passwords. Especially strong ones. While a password manager can help with this, single sign-on comes with similar benefits in a simpler manner. When employees have separate logins for every application, they usually end up using the same password for all of them.  This means that if a hacker gets access through one poorly secured website, they now have access to more corporate systems.

Some proven benefits to single sign-on include:

• Productivity increases because employees do not have to log in every time they change systems.
  
  
• Security is increased because only one password needs to be remembered. Because of this, it is easier for employees to make sure that they are using a strong one.
  
  
• The IT department's workload is lightened when we make the job easy for the end user. With single sign-on you reduce the number of requests via the "I forgot my password" button, for example. This means less time is spent dealing with and resolving such a situation.
  
  

Single sign-on is a gift that will make both your IT-team and end users happy, at the same time as it protects your data. 

5. Two-factor authentication: The virtual lock 

Two-factor authentication gives you an extra layer of security that prevents unauthorized access to your information.

This means that you authenticate yourself in an additional step, with information that only you can access. This could be an SMS code sent to your mobile phone, organic data or some form of eID.

Two-factor authentication stops cybercriminals and prevents possible data breaches. Suppose a hacker got the login to your e-mail. If you haven't secured access with more than your login, then your uninvited guest can immediately log in and see all your emails. If you have secured your e-mail with two-factor authentication, then the hacker also needs the second access code before he can actually read your e-mails. So even if your login credentials are captured, your e-mail inbox is still safe!  

If you aren’t already, you should definitely start using two-factor authentication in the next year!

Two-factor authentication is an extra layer that prevents against uninvited guests.

6. Custom security: Data protection as YOU want it

At Smartlockr, we are often asked: "Do you work with visible email security or is Smartlockr running in the background?" Our answer is always "What do you prefer?"

There are advantages to both options. When email security is visible, the end-user is educated about shortcomings in their habits. It makes them aware of what they are doing, what needs to be protected and what is a security risk.

Keeping your data protection active in the background can instead be more time-efficient. It may also be preferable if you have very strict rules around handling data because it removes the human element. 

Only you can say which choice is best for your organization. That's why we offer a solution tailored to you.

How is that done? Read all about it here: How do you take your email security? (Hint: we think it’s up to you)

Protect your data

Our goal at Smartlockr is to prevent data breaches. We do this by focusing on the factors that are proven to cause the most data breaches; human error and unsecure email/file sharing.

We offer a user-friendly, integrated solution for both Outlook, Gmail and all other e-mail solutions. In addition, you can use Smartlockr on any device, wherever you are. You just log into your email client as usual and send your emails, with or without a file. Smartlockr automatically detects the inclusion of sensitive data and will then take the necessary security measures.

In other words, Smartlockr is a user-friendly solution for secure email, with single sign-on and two-factor authentication, that prevents the human factor and lets you decide how visible you want your email security to be. That makes our wish list complete, right?

Want to know more about secure email? Download our whitepaper to learn more about what to look out for when choosing a solution that's right for your business.