Best-in-Class Companies Reduce Cost and Risk of Email

New Report Highlights Strategies for Making Email Safe


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - August 7, 2007) - Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), announced the results of its benchmark study focused on the security issues posed by email. The report, "The Ins and Outs of Email Vulnerability," explores the costs and losses associated with both incoming mail exploits such as viruses, hoaxes, phishing attacks, and spyware, as well as the problems associated with accidental data lost through email, data leakage through email and email sent from infected machines, including zombies. The strategies, capabilities and technology enablers that Best-in-Class companies use form the core recommendations for the report.

"The most compelling finding is that companies are getting profoundly different results depending on their email security strategies," says Research Director, Carol Baroudi, IT Security Practice, Aberdeen. Despite the fact that the amount of email has dramatically increased over the last year, and the fact that email attacks are much more sophisticated, the Best-in-Class companies were able to decrease the loss of productivity attributable to email, decrease the cost associated with the remediation of email attacks, decrease the number of malware infections (viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, key loggers, etc.) attributable to email and the number of data loss incidents attributable to email. "The bad news," Baroudi continued, "is that most companies are not so fortunate." Many are losing even more productivity and suffering an increase in data loss and infections attributable to email than they did a year ago.

New threats combine email attacks with hostile web sites that download malicious software, which may in turn disseminate new email attacks from the infected machines. Best-in-Class companies are integrating their email and web security, using encryption to protect email in transit, and deploying data loss prevention software to prevent sensitive data leaking through email. They monitor, track, report email threats and losses and in general have greater visibility across the organization's resources, watching threats on desktops, laptops, servers and networks.

This report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: SurfControl, MXlogic, Proofpoint, Vericept, Postini. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=4124

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

© 2007 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
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Telephone: (617)723-7890
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Contact Information: Media Contact: Carol Baroudi Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5287 carol.baroudi@aberdeen.com