Tumbleweed Research Reveals 60 Percent of European Businesses Do Not Encrypt Outbound Emails
March 28 2007 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Tumbleweed� Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:TMWD), the industry�s
leading pure play messaging security vendor, today announced the
results of research indicating that 60 percent of large European
businesses do not adequately secure data by using encryption. This
is despite the fact that 13 percent of responding European
organizations admitted a data breach of unauthorized confidential
information leaving their organizations within the last year. The
study of senior IT managers across the UK, Spain, France and
Germany, carried out on Tumbleweed�s behalf by independent research
party Vanson Bourne, sheds light on the nonchalance of
organizations towards the growing problem of data breaches, despite
increasing awareness of the problem. The research reveals that
�users transmitting confidential data in email� is now Europe�s
most painful email policy issue, ranking as the top concern for 39
percent of respondents. �Personal use of email� came a close second
with 32 percent. Across Europe, more than a third, 36 percent, of
those surveyed rated �publicity� as a particularly painful
consequence of a data breach, while a quarter, 26 percent, added
�fines or lawsuits� to their list of concerns. However more than
half of the organizations, 59 percent, not already using encryption
stated that they did not perceive the business need to do so �
showing that there is still significant work to be done to educate
businesses on the threats posed by data breaches and the solutions
available to prevent them. Only in financial services do the
majority of European organizations, some 59 percent, encrypt
outbound email as a matter of course. �Encryption is key for all
internet communications but even more so in the outbound stream
with employees, unwittingly or otherwise, sending sensitive
information across open and vulnerable networks,� said Soeren Bech,
business director EMEA for Tumbleweed. �Despite the many high
profile incidents recently across Europe of these types of data
breaches and the negative impact they have had on an organization�s
reputation, it is alarming that our findings show so many
organizations are not taking the �threat from within� seriously.�
�It is time for businesses to take action and invest in adequate
security for their communications to prevent the potential of a
more costly and embarrassing data breach,� said Bech. �We urge
European businesses to ensure that encryption plays a pivotal role
in their new email security strategy, especially for the outbound
stream.� Tumbleweed warns that organizations should remember that
the �threat from within� is only part of a larger security problem
for organizations, because external threats such as spam and
viruses continue to be an ongoing concern. A key finding from the
research is that spam is still a major pain point for European
businesses when managing email, with all respondents listing it as
one of their top three concerns. The most frequently listed problem
caused by spam was it getting through to end users whose subsequent
complaints contrived to increase the workload of IT administrators.
The spam situation was most acutely felt in Spain where 45 percent
of respondents deemed excess time spent by administrators as
�painful� or �very painful� to the organization. Viruses too remain
a real drain on organizations� IT resources, with the survey
revealing that 30 percent of European businesses had been infected
by a virus in the previous twelve months, increasing to 36 percent
in the largest organizations. All of these issues highlight the
urgent requirement from organizations to better manage the growing
external and internal pressures they face whether related to
technology, security, user management or corporate compliance. SAFE
HARBOR STATEMENT Tumbleweed cautions that forward-looking
statements contained in this press release are based on current
plans and expectations as of the date of this press release, and
that a number of factors could cause the actual results to differ
materially from the guidance given at this time. These factors are
described in the Safe Harbor statement below. Except for the
historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in
this press release may constitute forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those projected, particularly with respect
to the results of the Vanson Bourne study. In some cases,
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
�may," �will," �should," �potential," �continue," �expects,"
�anticipates," �intends," �plans," �believes," �estimates," and
similar expressions. For further cautions about the risks of
investing in Tumbleweed, we refer you to the documents Tumbleweed
files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, particularly Tumbleweed's Form 10-K filed March 14,
2007. Tumbleweed assumes no obligation to update information
contained in this press release. Although this release may remain
available on Tumbleweed�s website or elsewhere, its continued
availability does not indicate that Tumbleweed is reaffirming or
confirming any of the information contained herein. About
Tumbleweed Communications Corp. Tumbleweed Communications Corp.
(NASDAQ:TMWD), the industry�s leading pure play messaging security
vendor, provides world-class innovative messaging security
solutions for organizations of all sizes. Organizations rely on
Tumbleweed's solutions to securely manage their Internet
communications, spanning email management to file transfers.
Tumbleweed has more than 2,400 customers worldwide, representing
industries such as Finance, Healthcare, and the U.S. Government.
The world�s most security conscious organizations rely upon
Tumbleweed technology including Bank of America Securities, JP
Morgan Chase & Co., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and
the U.S. Department of Defense. Our award-winning products build on
thirteen years of R&D and 26 security patents in the U.S. alone
� many of which are licensed by other security vendors. More
information can be found at www.tumbleweed.com. Tumbleweed and the
Arrows logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of
Tumbleweed Communications Corp. in the United States and/or other
countries. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
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