The importance of protecting against both outbound & inbound email security threats

The Hastings Council data breach highlights the importance of protecting against both outbound and inbound email security threats. Officials at the seaside council accidentally emailed over 350 locals in Cc instead of Bcc, exposing email addresses of residents.

These mistakes are alarmingly easy to make – especially when you do something infrequently, such as using the Bcc field instead of Cc or To, which are more commonly used. However, accidentally sending an email with confidential or personal information can have serious consequences for an organization’s privacy and security, as well as repercussions for data subjects if personal data is disclosed; in this instance, the residents’ email addresses.

When using email, employees may make mistakes that lead to data loss. All organizations should have proper security measures in place to prevent and protect against these types of threats. Intelligent email DLP protects organizations against data breaches by deeply understanding how individuals use email and dynamically detecting abnormal behavior (such as forgetting to use the Bcc field) and alerting users before a mistake is made.