Knowing how to securely archive business email in real time can prevent businesses suffering from data loss due to the actions of malicious employees. 69 percent of businesses suffer “significant data or knowledge loss” due to malicious employees according to a study conducted by Osterman Research in 2016, so the problem is very common.
Osterman Research´s study was not the first to highlight the threat of malicious insiders. In 2009, research conducted by the Ponemon Institute found that more than 60 percent of businesses had suffered a loss of data due to employees taking it with them when they finished working for the business, or due to employees maliciously deleting emails as a “parting gift”.
The Osterman Research study also found that – despite the preceding research being nearly ten years old – 60 percent of businesses secure their emails against employee data theft, with less than half knowing how to securely archive business email.
Cybersecurity Threats from Outside the Business
Cybersecurity threats from outside the business receive a much higher profile than insider data theft. The threats of malware, ransomware, and phishing give many security departments sleepless nights, which is no surprise given that estimates suggest businesses store up to 75% of their intellectual property in email accounts. Even when the content of emails is encrypted to comply with regulatory rules, businesses can still be at the mercy of cybercriminals.
Recently a new type of email-related attack has developed – holding email servers to ransom. In these attacks, cybercriminals hack into an email server, remove the data, and demand a ransom to return it. Although the data is of no value to the cybercriminal because it is encrypted, businesses who don´t know how to securely archive business email will be unable to operate until they pay the ransom or face catastrophic data loss.
Lack of Disaster Recovery Planning Can Mean a Lack of Compliance
Having no means to recover from an email server ransom attack shows a lack of disaster recovery planning – a crucial element of most regulatory rules. It is also crucial that emails are backed-up and archived in real time, as periodic copying can result in emails being deleted or altered before whatever solution is being used to securely archive business email has had the chance to back up inbound and outbound emails.
This not only means that data required to be protected can be lost, it can also cause compliance issues as emails can be altered before being sent to the archive, and an immutable copy of emails is not maintained, as is required by several laws.
How to Start Securely Archiving Business Emails
How to start securely archiving business emails is to acknowledge that cloud-based solutions have a higher level of security than on-premises solutions that can be lost, damaged, stolen, or corrupted. Cloud-based solutions are also more resilient to disasters, have infinitely scalable storage, and – because all archived emails are stored in one place – are easier to search and quicker to find and recover email data.
The next features to look for are those which will ease the administrative burden. The best solutions for securely archiving business emails integrate with directory tools such as LDAP, and Active Directory, making the application of access controls that much simpler. A good policy engine to apply retention periods should also be high on the list of priorities.
The reason why a solution to securely archive business email should archive emails in real time has already been discussed, but the way in which emails are archived is also important. If your business selects a solution that securely archives business emails after de-duplicating content and attachments, searches will be that much faster and search results will be free of duplicated content.
Securely Archive Business Email with ArcTitan Cloud from WebTitan
ArcTitan Cloud from WebTitan is a cloud-based email archiving solution that takes the sleepless nights out of how to securely archive business email. A “set and forget” solution, ArcTitan Cloud copies both inbound and outbound emails in real time, deduplicates the messages to remove duplicate content, and archives messages and attachments in an IL5 certified data center via an encrypted TLS connection.
ArcTitan Cloud is universally compatible with all operating systems, mail servers, and email services. It can process in excess of 200 emails per second and, due to comprehensive indexing capabilities, can search a database of 30 million emails in less than a second. It also integrates seamlessly with directory tools so access controls can be applied in minutes and works with all major email clients. The archive can be accessed directly through Outlook or other mail clients, or via any web browser.
Some of the key features of ArcTitan are detailed below:
If you would like to securely archive business email with the ease-of-use provided by ArcTitan Cloud, do not hesitate to get in touch. Our team of Sales Technicians can answer your questions and organize a demonstration of ArcTitan Cloud in action. If you subsequently subscribe to our service, our team of security experts will be to liaise with your IT department to accelerate deployment.
With ArcTitan Cloud, you are guaranteed never to lose an email due to the actions of a malicious insider, a cybercriminal, or due to user error. Contact us today to find out more about how your business can compliantly, effectively, and securely archive business email, and protect your business-critical data from malicious insiders and hackers.
