Email is the most common technology used in accidental data breaches, according to a survey of 1,000-plus U.S. companies sponsored by data security platform Egress and conducted by Opinion Matters research group.
Eighty-three percent (83%) of organizations surveyed said they experienced an accidental data breach. When an employee has unintentionally exposed sensitive data, 51% of respondents said it was through an external email provider, such as Gmail and Yahoo. Meanwhile, 46% said corporate email was used in an accidental data breach.
|Pitfalls: emails to wrong address, forwarding sensitive info
Common employee email pitfalls include sending emails to the wrong address, forwarding sensitive information and sharing attachments with hidden sensitive content, according to the survey.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Victoria Hudgins
I am a reporter for Legaltech News where I cover data privacy, cybersecurity and technology's impact on the business and practice of law.
