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Lack of encryption putting sensitive data at risk

New research has highlighted how sensitive data is being put at risk of exposure to online threats because of old habits and ignorance, it has emerged.

According to a study commissioned by secure messaging solutions provider CertifiedMail, some 27 per cent of firms admit to an accidental or malicious data leak in the last 12 months.

Almost half (47 per cent) of businesses do not have capabilities to send encrypted email directly from their desktop while only 13 per cent admit to being able to send encrypted emails automatically.

"The results of this survey clearly indicate what organisations should do to protect their confidential data and their organisations from financial and other harm," said president of Osterman Research Michael Osterman.

"Companies need to deploy an easy-to-use encryption capability that will allow users to encrypt private content, even content that is only mildly sensitive.

"This will ensure that organisations are protected from the potential loss of sensitive information that could come back to harm them."

According to data security solutions provider BeCrypt, organisations that hold personally identifiable data should be legally obligated to have full disk encryption.

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