To fight against data breaches and compromised privacy, many businesses and organizations are doing everything in their power to develop a strong front line against cyber-attacks. This means many things — employing skilled professionals, continually training employees on best practices and implementing the latest software updates. But it also means email archiving.
An email archiving solution may not be the first thing that comes to mind in terms of cybersecurity measures. But this simple, trusted solution can help keep your emails safe and secure. Discover how email archiving might be the solution you need to take your cybersecurity resilience to the next level.
Table of Contents
The Definition of Cyber Resilience
First, let’s define this concept. The definition from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) explains cyber resilience as: “the ability to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and adapt to adverse conditions, stresses, attacks, or compromises on systems that use or are enabled by cyber resources.”
A cyber resiliency plan is a strategy that you can apply across an entire organization or operation. So, what are the advantages? A cyber resiliency plan helps to protect critical systems. It protects applications and data. It also enables faster reaction times in the event of a disruptive cyber incident such as a data breach.
Cyber resilience plays both a preventative and a reactive role. There are necessary steps you can take, such as email archiving, that can help lessen risks. And in the event there is an attack, a cyber resiliency plan will help you analyze, manage and recover more quickly.
The Definition of Email Archiving
Now let’s talk a bit more about email archiving. This refers to the ability to completely move an electronically stored message from one data store to another. The goal of email archiving is to keep all emails and make them searchable.
So, why do businesses and organizations need to archive electronic communications and information? There are many reasons, including:
- Business continuity
- Disaster recovery
- The ability to preserve communications in a safe, accessible way
- Save storage space
- Reducing storage load
- Eliminating PSTs
- Improving productivity
Email Archiving Solutions
Spending in the cybersecurity industry reached around 40.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. It is only continuing to grow as the use of technology increases. Organizations today must place a strong focus on investing in cybersecurity. They should also follow best practices in cybersecurity risk management, such as continuous data monitoring and record keeping.
When building a cyber resilience strategy, it is important to work with an email archiving consultant. This person should have the necessary knowledge to meet your unique cyber resilience requirements. You should also find an email archiving solution provider that maintains a high standard of security and reliability.
How Does Email Archiving Build Cyber Resilience?
We’ve established that email archiving is important. But how exactly does it build cyber resilience? Let me explain.
Safeguards Your Data
You can protect data within an email archive by using many tools. These include encryption, role-based permissions, multi-factor authentication and redaction. Safeguarding data is one of the many reasons why securing and archiving your email is essential to a successful cyber resiliency plan.
Improves Security
It’s no secret your inbox is not as safe as it once was. Hackers are using increasingly advanced tools to get into your email. But there is good news. An email archiving solution can maintain the data in a manner that cannot be changed or deleted. This is extremely important. It guarantees that an organization can present any necessary information if faced with litigation or record requests and quickly get back online following a cyber-attack.
Protects Against Attacks
Phishing attacks are one of the most common threats to businesses and individuals in 2021. It’s a fraudulent practice of sending out malicious emails to secure sensitive information or data. It’s also a way to gain access to a network or system.
When a cyber-attack occurs, it’s extremely important to act quickly. If your system isn’t compromised, an email archiving solution ensures your data isn’t lost. It also ensures that your private information remains private. If you don’t have an email archiving solution, your organization could face irreparable damage.
Enhances Recoverability & Compliance
Email archiving can help a company or organization recover company-wide inboxes quickly and correctly. The best way to maintain compliance in regulatory industries while remaining cyber secure? Use an independent archiving solution.
An archiving solution moves and secures only one copy of an email immediately after it is sent or received. This enables an organization to collect, secure and store enormous amounts of email in one central location. You can easily search or audit that one location. In addition, the metadata within the message will not be duplicated, regardless of how many more times the information is passed between various accounts.
Benefits of Email Archiving
Aside from the benefits that relate to building cyber resilience, other advantages come with email archiving. Some of these include reducing costs for storage and email backups. Ensuring regulatory and legislative compliance, reducing stress on servers and faster restoration are also pluses. Businesses and organizations have instant access to email records. This means that in the event of a cyber-attack, there is the ability to recover more quickly. The bottom line: These advantages ultimately lead to increased productivity.
Cyber resilience is a must for every organization or business, regardless of size or industry. Email archiving can help. With the right solution, you can protect and preserve your sensitive data. Put yourself in the best possible position when it comes to information backup and disaster recovery.
Author Bio:
Adnan A. Olia is a senior member of the Intradyn team and is responsible for keeping an eye on the regulatory and technological marketplaces. Adnan provides thought leadership in the archiving and compliance sector to help Intradyn understand the latest trends in business innovation.
