There’s a fundamental problem with many email security solutions: People aren’t using them.
Jason Green, Trustifi CRO, says a variety of factors drive low adoption rates. Many email security solutions aren’t easy to use, and they make them complicated to encrypt an email. Some solutions require recipients to register or download software for something they’ll not use regularly — or ever use again. Some recipients won’t open encrypted emails, worried that they aren’t legitimate. In fact, Green says 20 percent of people who receive encrypted emails never open them.
“A solution has to enable a community to communicate freely without compromising security,” says Green. He points out that there are five keys to increasing email security adoption:
1Stability with common platforms like Outlook
Green says most value-added resellers (VARs) and managed service providers (MSPs) have clients who use Microsoft Outlook or Google’s G Suite but want options for email security beyond what those services offer. It’s imperative to offer a solution that works with the clients’ preferred email service.
2Ease of use
It’s vital to find a configuration that makes it easy for users to encrypt and send emails from their email platform. Using the email security solution also needs to maintain workflows, allowing the recipient to reply with the same level of encryption without interrupting the email chain.
An email security solution should also take the human error element out of the equation with features such as content filtering for subject line, content and attachments. It should also enable a sender to retrieve an email or prevent a recipient from forwarding it.
3Effective data management
Users don’t just send emails, they keep them — including those that include personally identifiable information (PII) and other types of regulated data. Email security can’t stop after transmission and receipt. It’s also necessary to give users secure storage, archiving, convenient access to sensitive information when they need it and an easy way to delete information they no longer need.
4Compliance with regulations (HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA PII)
With the prevalence of phishing attacks — and their success in delivering malicious code or duping people into giving up login credentials or other information, you may assume that any business or organization would deploy email security solutions. However, the biggest market for email security solutions is in regulated industries such as healthcare or marketers subject to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA).
In addition to automated filters that encrypt emails or block transmission of some information, email security solutions should give users the option of alerting managers if an employee isn’t complying with regulations so they can receive additional training.
5Cloud-based applications via SaaS
Users want the accessibility and affordability of cloud-based solutions. Green comments, “Email management as a Service. Ultimately, that’s what we do.”
Taking a Solution to Market
Trustifi leverages a channel to provide its solution to end users. Green says selling email security solutions through channel partners is a great fit.
“Many businesses should have email management solutions in place, but it’s surprising how many do not,” says Green. “It’s something that VARs and MSPs need to sell, and it adds value to the services they provide.”
VARs and MSPs also find that email security solutions can make a customer relationship stickier. “Businesses realize they can meet all of their challenges through one provider,” Green says.
There are plenty of news reports of enterprises that have had astronomical losses because they didn’t comply with email best practices or data protection regulations. “We don’t advise selling based on fear, but instead on educating customers about the risks they face,” Green says.
Once businesses understand those risks — and that minimizing them can be easy for users — email security can be an easy sell.
