In his article “The Treasure Hunter” from 2nd October 2015 in the Berliner Zeitung, the Swiss businessman Herbert Notz listed some unofficial prices for information on the data market. At the top end of the scale is €25,000 for a copy of a VISA card bill. Better value is hacked emails for €5,000 whilst the daily rate for mobile phone tracking is only €350.
The Berlin based IT security specialists at Zertificon know why hacked emails are so cheap. “A large number of emails – even those containing sensitive data – are sent without considering any security implications. The interception of emails and even the manipulation of unencrypted emails isn't technically difficult. This 'service' is more a question of criminal energy than technical expertise. Only strongly encrypted emails protect against industrial espionage. Not even the NSA can crack these.” explains Dr. Burkhard Wiegel, founder and CEO of Zertificon Solutions.
Encryption prevents emails even being offered on the data market. Whereas private individuals with enough IT knowledge can use OpenPGP, organizations are better served with so called Secure Email Gateways. Zertificon's mature and field-proven Z1 SecureMail Gateway delivers a highly automated solution, which enables emails to be encrypted with any external contact. Company employees do not have to be concerned with the encryption processes and tasks at all. Version 4.9 will be release in November this year. When coupled with Z1 SecureMail End2End emails within the company network as well as on servers and end devices can also be encrypted. This includes mobile end devices such as smart phones, tablets and notebooks.
Business owners and IT managers should ask themselves whether someone might be tempted to invest 5.000 EUR to check out their emails. Protection of the data can be achieved with Z1 SecureMail Gateway for a lot less than the hacking prices.
