Email classification – how and why to do it
In IT security terms, data classification is tagging a piece of information (email, webmail, document, presentation or spreadsheet) to alert anyone who receives and handles it about its sensitivity. It is usually done at source, that is, by the person who creates the piece of information, and many governments have made it mandatory as a way to protect their sensitive data.
Classification of emails is possibly the most important- because email is the method that most people use to share information. If everyone in your enterprise had to think about data sensitivity before they created and sent any email, you could address much of the risk associated with accidental loss - easily and cost-effectively.
How do you classify emails?
As with any data classification scheme, a set of security classes or tags - usually three, or four, levels such as Personal, Public or Confidential – is defined, and each person is required to assign the appropriate tag to each email before they send it.
Email classification has the benefit of alerting the user at the time of creation – as well as anyone who handles the email thereafter. It also lightens the security load for your IT team by sharing it, and helps your security systems to better recognize and respond to sensitive emails in transit.
Make email classification simple
The Janusseal suite of products makes email classification certain, easy and fast with products to suit whichever way your users create emails from:
- Outlook - Janusseal for Outlook
- Outlook Web App (via browser) – Janusseal for Outlook Web App
- Outook Mac - Janusseal for Outlook Mac
- Mobile devices – Janusseal Mobile App.
Janusseal for Outlook and Janusseal for Outlook Web App are add-ons to Microsoft® Outlook® and Exchange respectively, that:
- Requires sender to add a classification label (protective marking) to each message
- Displays the classification information to all recipients
- Integrates with common email gateways.
- Is centrally configured using the enterprise technology of Microsoft Group Policy
- Is pre-packaged for rapid deployment,
And Janusseal Mobile App install directly into mobile devices. We suggest a sequence approach to data classification, starting with the highest risk (email from desktops and mobiles, and webmail), then move to documents and then add automated tools to speed up the process.
Learn more about Janusseal for Outlook, Janusseal for Outlook Web App, Janusseal Mobile App, contact us to discuss your email security priorities or find out how to avoid The Top 11 most common mistakes that derail data classification projects.
