14 DAY TRIAL // According to Egress' Outbound Email: Microsoft 365's Security Blind Spot report, 85% of Microsoft 365 users experienced email data breaches in the past 12 months.
Working from home has increased the risk of an email data breach for Microsoft users. 67% of IT leaders report an increase in data breaches because of working from home, as opposed to just 32% of IT leaders whose organizations do not use Microsoft 365.
In the future, 76% of IT leaders believe that remote and hybrid working will make it more difficult to prevent Microsoft 365 email data loss, compared to 40% of those who do not use it.
The study, conducted independently on behalf of Egress by Arlington Research, interviewed 500 IT leaders and 3,000 remote-working employees in the US and UK across vertical sectors such as financial services, healthcare, and legal.
85% of Organizations Using Microsoft 365 Experienced Email Data Breaches
Data breaches are far more common among Microsoft 365 users, with 15% of them experiencing over 500 incidents in the last year, compared to just 4% of those using other email clients.
Misdirected emails are also common among Microsoft 365 users, with over a quarter (26%) reporting severe incidents due to an employee sharing data inadvertently via email, compared to just 14% of non-Microsoft 365 users.
The consequences for Microsoft users are also more severe, with 93% of businesses using Microsoft 365 reporting negative consequences because of a breach, compared to only 84% of businesses not using it.
According to Egress’ Chief Technology Officer Darren Cooper: “Microsoft 365 has seen phenomenal adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic and has brought cost and efficiency benefits to many organisations, but its security limitations are clear to see. We can’t ignore the risk of email data loss from Microsoft 365 and the shortcomings of static DLP solutions to mitigate the outbound email security risks that organisations face today".