ANALYSIS – This article is a perfect example of why enterprise organizations should take a close look at their policies on use of webmail accounts. More and more employees rely on their personal email accounts to keep in touch with the outside world even during work hours and because many of these webmail applications are easier to use from remote locations than Outlook, it is not uncommon for work related traffic to flow across personal email accounts.
A risky combination to be sure making the chances of data loss and threat propagation an increasingly high possibility. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that most all of the webmail programs are capable of evading detection by existing port-based security solutions. There is no easy fix to the problem. Some enterprises have written policies that are completely ignored. Others make cursory attempts with firewall helpers to control it and then there are those who know it is happening yet chose to selectively ignore it. The bottom line is that enterprises are exposing themselves unnecessarily and should make more concerted efforts to rein in this untamed monster.
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