Data protection continues to be a hot topic, according to a report from security vendor Proofpoint, as large-scale breaches of personal information continue to come to light and as the regulatory environment becomes more sophisticated.
Proofpoint surveyed 301 e-mail decision makers at U.S. enterprises with more than 1,000 employees. Forty-one percent of organizations with 20,000 or more employees employ staff to read or otherwise analyze outbound e- mail. Overall, more than one quarter (29 percent) of companies surveyed employ such staff. More than one in three (38 percent) perform regular audits of outbound e-mail.
Forty-four percent investigated a suspected e-mail leak of confidential or proprietary information in the past 12 months. Forty percent investigated a suspected violation of privacy or data protection regulations.
Twenty-three percent said their business was impacted by the exposure of sensitive or embarrassing information in the last 12 months. Eighteen percent said they had been impacted by improper exposure or theft of customer information.
More than a quarter (26 percent) terminated an employee for violating e-mail policies in the past 12 months.
More than half (51 percent) disciplined an employee for violating email policies in the past 12 months. More than a quarter (27 percent) investigated the exposure of confidential, sensitive or private information via lost or stolen mobile devices in the past 12 months.
Fifty-six percent of respondents are concerned or very concerned about the risk of information leakage via e-mail sent from mobile devices.
Interestingly, seventy-five percent are concerned or very concerned about protecting the confidentiality of personal identity and financial information in outbound e-mail.