The Security Risks of Sharing Sensitive Information by Email

Email is one of the most ubiquitous forms of communication and continues to be a common way for coworkers to collaborate inside and outside of their workplace. It's an excellent way to exchange day-to-day information and communicate with customers, but it also creates security risks when sensitive information is exchanged. It can be a challenge to find a secure office chat service that addresses these risks and works for both on-site and remote employees.

In this article, we'll cover some of the ways email presents security risks as a communication channel and how businesses can avoid them with a peer-to-peer messaging service.

Sharing Information with Unauthorized Recipients

A significant risk of email services is the accidental or malicious release of sensitive information to unauthorized recipients. Sometimes confidential data is accidentally sent to the wrong email address, and sometimes information is passed on to unauthorized third parties by a recipient. In cases of fraud, employees can release information intending to damage the company's brand. It's difficult to control to whom an employee can send emails or what information they can attach to a message.

Exposure to External Trojans and Phishing Attacks

Email remains an effective way to attack workplace networks with Trojans and phishing attempts. Trojans are viruses embedded in executable files that appear to be documents or images. When an employee receives a Trojan attached to an email and opens it, the hacker's tools are installed onto their workstation. Phishing is a similar tactic that tricks employees into clicking links to external URLs. Sometimes the links point to fake websites designed to collect their credentials, and sometimes the webpage at the URL installs malware onto the employee's computer.

Hijacked Servers and Email Accounts

Email is as convenient for hackers as it is for businesses. They use it to deliver spam and other attacks to unwary victims. They often do this by hijacking email servers and using them to send out spam, phishing attempts, and Trojan attacks. They can also hijack individual user accounts to accomplish the same thing. If your company's email service is used in this way, it can cause damage to your brand and present risks to your own data security.

Exposure to Legal Liabilities

Unintentional and unauthorized releases of sensitive customer or employee information can expose your company to litigation. Data privacy breaches can expose customers to identity theft or reputation damage, giving them good cause to seek compensation. If your company works in the legal or medical industry, it can also be exposed to regulatory litigation and fines for failures to control sensitive information.

Peer-to-Peer Messaging Solves Many of These Problems

Softros LAN Messenger is designed to solve many of the modern workplace's security risks. It uses a peer-to-peer networking technology that limits messaging to your local area network. This technology ensures that internal communications remain internal and that your employees aren't exposed to external threats. A peer-to-peer service sends messages and attached documents directly to a recipient's computer instead of being routed through a server. Thus, a peer-to-peer messenger eliminates the possibility of third-party services retaining copies of your sensitive data.

Secure Remote Messaging

Peer-to-peer messaging is also capable of serving remote workers using existing technologies like virtual private networks and wide area networking. If an employee has a secure node on your network, they can be included in a peer-to-peer messaging service as well. These messaging services eliminate the need for remote employees to stay in touch with their local office using an insecure email service.

Conclusion

Softros LAN Messenger provides secure messaging and flexible collaboration tools that can solve many of the security risks your workplace faces today. You can download the app from Softros's website and try it for yourself. Their customer service reps will be happy to address any questions you may have.