Why email security is an investment and not an expense

Sending an email. It seems so easy, and surprise ... it is. But that's where the danger lies. Because if you send and receive dozens or maybe even hundreds of emails every day, a mistake is easy to make. Accidentally clicking on a link in a phishing email, an email with privacy-sensitive information sent to the wrong person, an attachment which is not encrypted or an important email that cannot be retrieved.

It all sounds harmless, but all of these are email data breaches and the consequences can be severe for an organization, management, the CISO and sometimes individuals involved. With proper email security, you can prevent these types of data breaches and save yourself and your organization a great deal. In fact, with a user-friendly solution you not only prevent data breaches, you can even save costs. Read all about it in this blog.

Table of contents

• Email is the leading cause of a data breaches
• Consequences of an email data breach
• Management is personally liable
• Secure mail solution gives peace of mind for everyone
• Protect against data breaches with machine learning
• Email security with phishing protection
• And how does Smartlockr help unburden you?

Email is the leading cause of a data breaches

Communication by email is easy, simple, fast and often reliable, but at the same time it's prone to errors. With email, a data breach often occurs due to either human error or phishing. In most cases, human error is the cause of a data leak. For example, sending an email with privacy-sensitive information to the wrong person is, with 82%, the most common form of data breach. (source: Verizon Data Breach Research 2022)

The danger that a data breach can pose to an organization has now caught the attention of the board as well. A recent Gartner survey found that 88% of the boards see cybersecurity as a real business risk. That percentage was 58% just five years ago. A substantial increase, which clearly shows that management and boards are taking the risk of a data breach more and more seriously.

More and more executives are aware of the risks of cybercrime. With Smartlockr, you protect your organization from data breaches in a way that also makes your employees happy

But unfortunately, recognizing the danger does not yet lead to choosing a good, user-friendly solution to help prevent data breaches. And in the case of data breaches, prevention is many times cheaper than cure. Take a look at the (financial) consequences of a data breach below:

 Consequences of a data breach

• Average financial damage is $ 9 million
• Reputational damage (loss of customers)
• Organization is always liable for consequences of data breach
• Business-sensitive information may become public
• Personal liability for management and CISO
• Personal consequences for the perpetrator
• Big fines

Consequences of an email data breach

No matter how your data breach occurs, it can have major consequences for the entire organization. Initially, people look to the CISO and the IT department to handle the problem. But once there is a data breach, they can do no more than minimize the damage as much as possible. But a data breach has much larger implications for an organization. First, it's good to know that the cost of a data breach can be enormous. In the US, on average, a data breach costs an organization as much as $ 9 million!

In addition to that financial setback, organizations also suffer reputational damage. This in turn can lead to the loss of (potential) customers. And the consequences can also be considerable for individuals who are liable within an organization. Because regardless of whether a data breach was caused by a malicious or non-malicious employee, an organization is always liable for all (financial) damage from a data breach! All the more reason for an organization to do everything possible to prevent a data breach.

Management is personally liable

As an organization, you can guard against a data breach by helping employees prevent data breaches and making them aware of how to communicate securely. You must also ensure that employees have the right preventive tools. Does management fall short in this regard, for example by making no or insufficient budget available or by choosing a flawed solution? Then they can also be held personally responsible, even if they themselves did not directly cause a data breach.

With a user-friendly (people-centric) solution to make secure emailing possible for everyone, you'll ensure a happy workforce.

Another important concern is that management often does not realize that they make decisions every day that impact a company's cybersecurity, without involving the CISO. If a data breach then arises from that, management is directly liable.

And a very good final reason to do everything you can to prevent email data breaches are the high fines for not following state or federal regulations. Depending on the size of a data breach, a company's global turnover, and the severity of a leak and the degree of an organization's negligence, those fines can run into the millions.

Fortunately, you can guard against the biggest causes of data breaches: human error and phishing. Read on quickly to see how secure mailing can save your organization a lot of money and misery.

Secure mail solution gives peace of mind for everyone

The cost of a data breach is many times higher than the cost of proper email security. With the right investment, any organization can protect itself from data breaches by preventing human error and phishing. Those who handle sensitive information consciously are less likely to make mistakes. And thanks to smart software that actively or passively involves the user, the very users in your organization become your strong force against data breaches. How does Smartlockr do that? Quite simply; by giving the user control.

Smartlockr allows you to delete and block emails and attachments afterwards for each recipient.

How nice it would be if you could recall an email you shouldn't or shouldn't have sent. Anyone using the proper email security can do that, even days after sending! Did you share something with the wrong recipient or send the wrong file? Then you can still block files, recipients or even the entire message. By doing so, you give your employees not only a good solution to fix errors in a timely manner, but also the necessary (peace of mind). And that is more than welcome at a time when workplace stress is increasingly being cited as a cause of absenteeism.

With high-tech email security, you can make the difference with the competition. By using the smartest way to prevent data breaches, you give your employees the opportunity to focus on what they do best; their work!

Protect against data breaches with machine learning

To keep email security at the highest level, Smartlockr uses machine learning. That's super-smart self-learning software that is alert to the content of every email 24 hours a day. Even that one mail you send on Friday afternoon before going out for drinks with your coworkers. And even that important report you worked on late into the night and sent before bed.

If the sender appears to be making a mistake, he or she receives a clear message with a possible solution to correct it before sending. This ensures that only the intended recipient receives the mail and files are encrypted if necessary.

Email security with phishing protection

In addition to email traffic inside and outside an organization, the worldwide constant flow of phishing emails also still poses a major risk. "But surely everyone recognizes phishing these days?", you're probably thinking right now. But reality says otherwise.

Machine Learning is the best way to protect your employees from phishing.

Phishing is becoming increasingly sophisticated, the familiar spelling mistakes are a thing of the past, and spear phishing targets individual victims. Protecting yourself and your staff from all forms of phishing will prevent someone from accidentally falling for a phishing email anyway. Fortunately, Smartlockr alerts the user to suspicious links, preventing links from being accidentally opened.

And how does Smartlockr help unburden you?

Smartlockr unburdens any organization on all aspects of cybersecurity. The user and ease of use are always the focus. User-unfriendly solutions are often not used or not used properly, which can even increase the risk of a data breach. With a user-friendly email security solution such as Smartlockr, all employees can send worry-free email without having to change the way they work.

This not only gives the end user peace of mind. Management and the CISO also don't have to worry about whether everyone in an organization is emailing securely. As a result, secure emailing can be done much more efficiently, without an immediate hefty price tag. With a good, people-friendly solution for secure emailing, you can even save costs through time savings. And with zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption and 2-factor authentication, security is always in order and you can prevent data leaks.

Whatever email software is used in your organization, Smartlockr will help you make email security as good and user-friendly as possible for you and all users. Do you also want to make secure emailing possible for your organization anytime, anywhere? Request an online demo and see how Smartlockr can help you.