Almost two thirds (60 per cent) of large European businesses do not adequately encrypt data leaving their organisation, according to research conducted by Vanson Bourne for security vendor Tumbleweed.

This is despite the fact that more than one in 10 (13 per cent) of responding European organisations admitted a data breach of unauthorised confidential information leaving their organisations within the last year.

'Encryption is key for all internet communications but even more so in the outbound stream with employees, unwittingly or otherwise, sending sensitive information across open and vulnerable networks,' said Soeren Bech, business director EMEA for Tumbleweed.

The research reveals that users transmitting confidential data in email is now Europe’s most painful email policy issue, ranked the main concern by (39 per cent) of respondents. Personal use of email came a close second with 32 per cent.

Across Europe, more than a third (36 per cent) of those surveyed rated publicity as a particularly painful consequence of a data breach, while a quarter (26 per cent) added fines or lawsuits to their list of concerns.

More than half of the organisations (59 per cent) not already using encryption stated that they did not perceive the business need to do so – showing that there is still significant work to be done to educate businesses on the threats posed by data breaches and the solutions available to prevent them.

Only in financial services do the majority of European organisations (59 per cent) encrypt outbound email as a matter of course.

'It is time for businesses to take action and invest in adequate security for their communications to prevent the potential of a more costly and embarrassing data breach,' said Bech. 'We urge European businesses to ensure that encryption plays a pivotal role in their new email security strategy, especially for the outbound stream.'