Email has firmly established itself as the main communication method for nearly every business in the world that has an online presence. In fact, according to market research firm The Radicati Group, more than 132 billion business emails will be sent and received every day by the end of 2017.

With vast amounts of data being transported all over the world on a daily basis, there is the obvious issue of security. Client details, business data and employee records are just a fraction of the information that can be contained in email correspondence. This is why email security has become a huge concern for businesses and why, in many industries, it has become a compliance prerequisite.

Let’s have a look at five major reasons businesses need email security:

To Save Money

Any breaches of email security will ultimately cost your business money. Whether it’s employees handling spam emails or IT staff dealing with a virus outbreak, the bottom line is the same: lost revenue. This is because the time spent addressing these issues is time that could have been spent gaining new sales leads or implementing a new piece of technology that might help your business generate more sales.

Either way, poor email security is a false economy and that’s why companies who are serious about their future should consider adopting a fully unified email management system like the one offered by Mimecast Email Security. The solution that Mimecast offers is secure, comprehensive and cost-effective. Can your organization afford to neglect its email security any longer?

To Control Spam

Spam in personal mailboxes is frustrating and can be a real nuisance, but what more if spam finds its way into business email accounts?

Unsolicited spam emails are a pest and this is especially true in a business environment. Your employees do not want to be wasting their time sifting through emails trying to establish which ones are spam and which ones are genuine. This not only impacts productivity because employees are wasting their time searching through mountains of emails, but it also poses the risk of genuine emails being neglected due to sheer volume. Therefore, having a dedicated email security system reduces the amount of spam emails your employees receive and improves their productivity.

To Prevent Malware

Today, malware comes in many shapes and sizes. This is why it is so important that your business has an effective defense against any threats that may be lurking on the internet.

Malware not only has the capability to infect infrastructure and cause performance issues, but there is also the risk to data security. Oblivious employees may spread all sorts of viruses and malware throughout your company if sufficient email security isn’t in place. Your clients trust you with their personal details, so you have an obligation to keep these details confidential.

A business that has a virus is a business that has a problem. Do your IT personnel need to be reacting to virus outbreaks when an email security system could have prevented them in the first place?

To Alleviate System Burden

This issue is actually directly related to the previous two points. The degradation of core systems due to abnormal or malicious emails is an issue for your organization.

Your IT staff will inevitably have to spend a great deal of their time making systems function to their optimum level again and may neglect other priorities in the process. Your company’s employees will be the first to complain if core systems are not functioning as they should be, and motivation and productivity may be affected as a result.

To Improve Reputation

Email security isn’t all about protecting your business from incoming threats. What about the risk that your business emails pose to other entities?

A company that gains a reputation for sending emails that contain viruses or spam will very quickly lose its credibility. Business partners like suppliers, investors and even customers, will quickly lose faith in a company that doesn’t protect its interests.

This is why email security is a vital investment that not only protects your internal operation but also ensures that your external partners have trust in you.