The Sony Entertainment hack at the end of 2014 has brought fear to the business community regarding how much data protection is in place. Supporting those fears are various reports that show the apparent lack of cybersecurity. However, organizations can begin to implement cybersecurity with the most basic necessity - email encryption. In the ever-changing world of technology and cyberattacks, it has always remained a necessary standard.
Email encryption has been a certainty when it comes to data protection. The source highlighted STARTTLS as the standard for encrypting email, as it has been difficult for even the NSA to crack.
How it makes it difficult for hackers
Email encryption deters hackers because it takes so much time to break it down and compromise data, according to azcentral. The Sony hack was caused by the breach of only one member, but email encryption can protect every employee within a company. The source recommended consulting an IT group or secure email provider before taking the steps to implement email encryption.
Who is using it
STARTTLS is a common requirement for encryption, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation noted that its popularity is due to its server-to-server strategy. A year ago, before cybersecurity was the alarming issue it is now, only four of the 18 companies EFF surveyed were using STARTTLS encryption. However, small organizations are now seeing the big dogs such as Amazon, Yahoo, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook use STARTTLS and taking after them. This year, Gmail reported that 77 percent of outbound email is now successfully encrypted during transit.
Why email encryption is the way
Email encryption provides a variety of cybersecurity benefits for companies. The survey by EFF highlighted the techniques STARTTLS uses to protect companies and data. One way is the ability to limit cookie communications to only encrypted transmissions, which means that network operators can't detect cookies transferred through insecure connections.
Connections and emails between two STARTTLS encrypted servers will keep the information safe on both ends. If there is a communication from a non-STARTTLS email server to a STARTTLS encrypted server, the email sent will be at risk of exposure. There are more advantages it can provide, but organizations have to research available cybersecurity options. This is why all companies need to look into implementing email encryption and cybersecurity basics to prevent any risks.
David Bailey is Senior Vice President at Protected Trust.
Protected Trust is a sponsor of the Print4Pay Hotel. I urge members and readers to visit their site to see their full line of products and services. More and more we need to provide well rounded strategic solutions for our customers. Protected Trust offers some unique solutions that can help us in our day to day efforts. Check them out here.
Comments (0)