Let me ask you something: how many emails would you say you send within one week? Now, of those emails, how many of them contain sensitive information of some sort?
Last question: if one of those sensitive emails were intercepted, what would happen?
It’s no secret that cybercrime has reached an all-time high (to the point where the word “cyberterrorism” has entered our lexicon). This means that it has never been more important to make sure that your sensitive information is protected both at rest and while it is in transit.
If your organization is subject to any compliance regulations (HIPAA and PII especially), or if you transfer any kind of sensitive data, email encryption is a crucial piece to the security puzzle. With a proper encryption solution, your sensitive emails will be unintelligible to everyone but your intended recipient—even if the message is intercepted.
With all of this information in hand, the question that often follows is how much an email solution will cost an organization on a monthly basis (trust us—we’ve heard it over and over again). It’s a perfectly logical question to ask, and it’s one we’ll break down for you below.
What to Look for in an Encrypted Email Solution
Even a service that appears as straightforward as email encryption can vary somewhat across providers. Here’s what to look out for:
- The kind of encryption. Is the message simply scrambled before it is sent and during transit? Or will the recipient need to type in a password in order to read the contents?
- Notifications. Will you know when your intended recipient receives the email?
- Mobile integration. Will you be able to send or receive encrypted messages on mobile devices? Will your provider support said integration?
- Guest accounts. If you send an encrypted message to someone without their own email encryption solution, will they be able to retrieve your message and securely respond to it?
- Attachments. Can you also encrypt email attachments? Of what file size?
The Average Price Range for Email Encryption
Depending upon what capabilities your particular encrypted email solution comes equipped with, you will be looking at a monthly charge of between $4 and $10 per account on average, with the median price hovering around $8.
The factor that most directly impacts cost is that final variable mentioned above: what size files you’re able to encrypt along with your messages; the bigger the files, the higher your investment may creep up the scale.
When you look at the big picture, though, this investment has the potential to save you thousands upon thousands of dollars in the fines, lost reputation, and damage control that would follow after a sensitive email is intercepted.
Give a little, save a whole heck of a lot.