The data breach of Avid Life Media demonstrated how easy it is for cybercriminal groups to steal incriminating information, as hackers successfully breached the company's network and made off with the personal records and account data of millions of AshleyMadison.com and Establishedmen.com users. Once the hacking group responsible for the attack - the Impact Team - released this information publicly, consumers learned that they must protect their private data since some corporations are not capable of doing so.
Business executives can also learn a thing or two from the Avid Life Media data breach. In particular, this cybersecurity event highlights the importance of comprehensive and easy-to-use email security. Simply put, without adequate email protection, some businesspeople could experience personal and business-related disruption. In this case, companies could even be incriminated.
Hard email evidence
Wired reported that the Impact Team released an email exchange - among many other email conversations - between two Avid Life Media employees in its latest data dump on GitHub. The document indicated that in 2012, Raja Bhatia, the founding chief technology officer of AshleyMadison.com, told Noel Biderman, the company's CEO, that he hacked Nerve.com, a competitor dating site. In addition, Bhatia explained the "security hole" to Biderman, noting that he managed to steal Nerve.com's entire database of users and identified a way to alter those customer records.
"Email is insecure, yet widely used."
If that wasn't enough to convince everyone that email security and encryption is necessary, the story doesn't end there. The legal consequences of hacking another business likely trump any personal guilt that AshleyMadison.com executives might feel. Wired asserted that if Bhatia did hack Nerve.com and steal data, he is criminally liable for those actions according to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Email is insecure, yet widely used. As InformationWeek explained, email was created as a simple communication method during a time when cybercrime wasn't a concern. However, the world cannot just stop using this universal method for connecting people all over the globe. The problem is that the average individual hardly considers the need for email security, but situations like Avid Life Media's make it clear that consumers must protect their communications and personal data.
The solution to email security
Successful email security depends on the constant use of encryption, especially since the AshleyMadison.com data was from 2012. This means that every email should be protected, and therefore, encryption must be easy to deploy - after all, email security needs to be second nature. These email security tools must also integrate with popular email platforms, such as Gmail, Outlook and many others. CloudMask provides users will all of those capabilities, seamlessly connecting to all types of email accounts and allowing consumers to quickly and easy encrypt all of their communications.
With CloudMask, only your authorized parties can decrypt and see your data. Not hackers with your valid password, Not Cloud Providers, Not Government Agencies, and Not even CloudMask can see your protected data. Twenty-six government cybersecurity agencies around the world back these claims.
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