In everyday business, e-mails are still the most popular form of communication for German companies. At the same time, there is a high demand for a secure e-mail infrastructure. These are the results of a survey by YouGov on behalf of mailbox.org
The survey results speak for themselves: for 57 percent of those surveyed, e-mails are the most important communication tool in everyday business, for a further 29 percent they are the second most important. Only the telephone is comparable in popularity: for 29 percent it is the most popular communication tool and for 48 percent it is the second most popular communication tool. Then came Messenger, social media, the classic letter and last but not least: the fax.
E-mails are important for 86 percent
The reasons for the popularity of e-mails are just as clear: Respondents consider them fast (78 percent), an established standard in communication (72 percent) and uncomplicated (70 percent).
At the same time, however, the results show a discrepancy in perception and everyday life in German companies. What is surprising is that only around half of those surveyed (52 percent) believe that e-mails are a reliable communication tool. Confidence in security is even lower: Only 34 percent see e-mails as secure or legally secure (28 percent).
Demand for secure email infrastructure remains high
E-mails are therefore popular, but many of the IT decision-makers surveyed still see a significant need for improvement when it comes to security and data protection. 91 percent of those surveyed “rather” or “completely” believe that these aspects of e-mail communication are very important for their company. Despite this awareness of the importance of security and data protection, however, only 55 percent of those surveyed stated that their company uses end-to-end encryption such as PGP or S/MIME for email communication.
Of that 55 percent, around two-thirds (69 percent) believe that such encryption provides an extra level of confidentiality and protection for sensitive subjects or files that need to be emailed. In this way, feared risks of unencrypted data, such as financial damage, loss of reputation or legal consequences can be avoided.
Encryption for sensitive topics
“The survey results clearly show that e-mails are still the most important communication tool in everyday business in German companies. However, many companies fail to adequately protect their e-mail communication, for example by end-to-end encryption or by choosing a provider specializing in security, with corresponding effects on trust in the security of e-mails,” says Peer Heinlein, founder and managing director of mailbox.org.
“The need for a secure and data protection-compliant e-mail infrastructure is therefore high, especially in times of increasingly frequent cyber risks. A reliable external partner can effectively help companies to meet all data security, data protection and compliance standards with minimal effort.”
Background to the survey
The survey was carried out by YouGov on behalf of mailbox.org, the Berlin-based email service specializing in data protection and data security. The survey was conducted in July 2022 and is based on online interviews with more than 500 IT decision-makers in small and medium-sized German companies from various industries.
More at mailbox.org
Via mailbox.org
The German e-mail specialist mailbox.org shows that digital sovereignty, security and data protection can also be combined with convenience and extensive features. In addition to classic e-mail core functions, security-conscious private and business customers also receive a calendar, address book, task management, online word processing and cloud storage based on an open source solution. In addition, mailbox.org has integrated video conferences and web chat.