As of 2022, 333.2 billion emails were sent and received. The figure is expected to increase by over 370 billion. As the global email user base is expected to increase by 4.6 billion by 2025, it is no wonder top businesses, especially B2B, are still using email marketing as their top marketing channel.

The above figures reflect the disproportionate reliability of businesses and people on emails. However, as 81% of global organizations experienced email attacks in 2020, the question "Are emails and email attachments safe for people's and business' privacy?" remains unanswered.

While emails are already unguarded, using email attachments proves to be even riskier for businesses, their data, and confidentiality. Although accurate figures are not available about the number of users still using email attachments, assuming that it will be at least half of the above-mentioned user base is not an exaggeration.

Besides the difficulty of usage, email attachments pose a strong risk to businesses' confidentiality, privacy, and data.

Problems With Email Attachments

Collaborations

Do you ever feel that your team doesn’t work in tandem because of the difficulty of collaboration on email attachments? Email attachments are not business or collaboration friendly for many reasons.

It is a huge challenge. In a world of constant change, where every meeting is an opportunity for new ideas and every email is a chance for clever feedback, where do those random thoughts go? In most cases, they get lost in a sea of attachments. Email attachments and documents have a way of holding you back. With traditional email attachments or documents, there are a few major limitations for teams to function in their full capacity

• Email attachments require constant downloading, uploading, and re-uploading. Even if it is just to share information with your entire team, you still need to send the attachment to everyone and make sure they view it.
• Email attachments are limited by your file storage capacity, meaning that at some point, you're going to hit a limit—and won't be able to send or receive any more files until you delete some old ones (or, you know… pay for more storage).
• There's no way to get notified when someone makes a change. It means that not only are you working on different versions of the same document but different versions of the same document… IN SECRET. No one will be able to have an overview of what everyone else is doing until it gets sent around again for review—and by then, it might be too late.
• You can't work on the same instance of the document at the same time. If your team doesn’t have the same version of Microsoft Word, for example, you won't be able to open it on your computer—and even if you do, that means only one person can edit it at a time unless you want to risk overwriting each other's changes!
• Email attachments can lead to multiple versions of the same document or spreadsheet. So you end up with one person working on version1, another person on version2, and so on until you get mixed up or throw your hands in the air and start over from scratch.
• There is no way to keep track of older versions or the changes made. You could go back and manually compare versions, but that would take forever.

Versions

How much time do you spend every day just trying to find the version of a document you need? And how many hours does your team collectively waste on this task?

This is a huge problem for many businesses—especially in fields where you are constantly updating models, plans, and designs. It is often so bad that the team members don't even realize how much time they are spending on it!

• Email attachments and documents are a breeding ground for version control problems. These problems occur when different people work on different versions of the same document or when someone overwrites someone else's work. This is frustrating to deal with, but it also causes delays in projects and can lead to mistakes in the final project.
• When everyone has a different version of the same document, collaboration and teamwork are harder and can ultimately hurt your business productivity.

Wrong address – Confidentiality compromised

Mistakes happen. But when that mistake involves sending an email attachment to the wrong address, it can have serious consequences for your business's data and confidentiality.

Since email attachments don’t have strong security mechanisms in place like two-step authorization or end-to-end encryption, a small mistake can be a threat to your organization’s data and confidentiality.

Multiple deliveries

Sharing files by email attachment is not always the best option. As a business owner, you may be able to get away with it, but there are risks involved.

You may send an email attachment, only to realize that you forgot to attach it. Or maybe you sent the wrong file. Maybe you realized that the file was outdated once it had already been sent. Maybe you have even sent an empty attachment before—or worse, a virus-infected one.

• Sending files as attachments is also plain inconvenient for many people in your network. Many people's inboxes are full, and some have their email settings set up so they can't receive large attachments.
• In addition to these inconveniences, there is a security issue: emails go through multiple servers to the recipient's inbox, and servers are notoriously insecure. So any time you send an attachment via email—even if it's just a Word doc—it's vulnerable to hacking or other security breaches. Furthermore, you don't know who will see or access your files on the way to their intended recipients.

Data governance

Email attachments cause data governance issues for businesses because they are a security risk, difficult to search, and not always compliant with regulations.

• Unencrypted attachments can be easily intercepted by malware or hackers. This is especially problematic in the case of businesses that handle sensitive data.
• Attachments can also pose a problem when searching through email records. Attachments aren't indexed in the same way text is, so if you're trying to find an email with an attachment, it could take ages for your search to go through all the results.
• Business continuity issues: What happens next if your business suffers major downtime due to cyberthreats or another reason and you lose access to all of your email data, including attachments? Do you have a plan in place for recovering all that information quickly? If not, your business may suffer long-term consequences due to lost productivity and missed opportunities caused by business downtime.

Solutions by CloudFiles

End-to-end encryption for superior security

With end-to-end encryption, your business can ensure that no one has access to your data except you and the intended recipient. As a result, you can send sensitive files without worrying about them being intercepted and read by hackers or other malicious parties.

• With end-to-end encryption, no one—not even the cloud provider—can access your files unless you permit them to do so. This is especially important when your organization has multiple users who need access to your private documents. In addition, end-to-end encryption ensures that all users have equal access rights to a file. For example, no one user can change or delete another user's files without proper authorization.
• End-to-end encryption allows businesses to keep their data protected even while accessible to employees or clients who need it. The files are encrypted before leaving the user's device and are only decrypted when they reach their destination device. So, there is no way for your files to be infected with viruses or malware in the midway.

File analytics to track changes

File analytics helps businesses by giving them a better understanding of what's going on with their data. This can help them make better decisions about how they use their data, leading to increased profits. This type of tool also makes it easier for companies to analyze large amounts of information without manually inputting each piece into a separate program.

• File analytics of CloudFiles makes it easy to identify suspicious activity so that you can take swift action against malicious actors before they do any serious damage. And if your company has been hacked, file analytics software makes it easier to identify the source of the breach and what information was accessed by unauthorized users—which means that breaches can be dealt with more quickly and effectively.
• File analytics of CloudFiles helps you make sense of your data. It provides a bird's-eye view of how your business uses its data and gives you insight into specific user behavior. For example, file analytics can tell you who's accessing what files and when, which allows you to better plan for future needs. It also lets you see which types of files are most popular so that you can optimize your storage capacity.

Easier collaborations

Team collaboration is a key element of successful business projects. And while some companies might invest in a team chat app or another piece of software to facilitate collaboration, the reality is that there is already a tool at your disposal that can do so much more - Cloudfiles.io

Cloudfiles.io is an easy way for teams to collaborate on a project without the hassle of emailing files back and forth and trying to keep track of the latest version. With Cloudfiles.io, you can set up a shared folder and give team members access to it—they can add new files, download existing ones, and make edits as needed. This makes collaborating on a document as simple as drag-and-drop.

But Cloudfiles.io isn’t just limited to documents. It is also perfect for sharing code files, templates, and graphics libraries, and even collaborating on presentations or datasheets. The possibilities are pretty much endless!

• Cloudfiles.io cloud storage is accessible from any device with an internet connection. So whether your teammates are at home or in the office, they will be able to view and collaborate with everyone else without needing to transfer files via email
• When you create a new file, it is automatically stored in your cloud file storage system. You never have to worry about losing something critical because someone's hard drive crashed or an email attachment was lost in the shuffle. You can rest assured that all of the documents needed by your team are safely backed up in the cloud and accessible from anywhere.
• With Cloudfiles.io, you can set up groups within your company's cloud file storage system to make it easy for everyone in the group to access the files they need.

Version sync

Cloudfiles.io allows users to automatically sync versions of the same file across a network of devices. This is super helpful if you are working on a team and need to ensure everyone has access to the most up-to-date version of a document.

• Instead of relying on different versions of the same document in several different places (and having to hunt them down or ask around), cloudfiles.io syncs new versions automatically so that everyone who needs it always has access to the latest version. This saves time, reduces confusion, and ensures that everyone is always on the same page—a must for running a business.

Robust data governance

It is a core concern of any business to ensure robust data governance and compliance, and Cloudfiles.io ensures that your data is safe and secure.

• One of the most common uses for cloud storage is organizing and managing a company's data. Cloud storage allows businesses to consolidate all of their files, making it much easier to find what you are looking for when you need it. Cloudfiles.io offers a cloud storage option to store your files and collaborate with your team on the cloud.
• The biggest advantage that cloud storage has over traditional server-based storage is that it allows you to access your data anywhere. This makes it extremely convenient because there is no need to be in front of a computer or have an external hard drive present to access your files. You can log in with your credentials on any device and access the cloud or files instantly.
• With sensitive data stored on virtual servers in the cloud, one of the most common concerns is their security and confidentiality. Luckily, there are ways to keep your data safe, and cloudfiles.io has put measures to ensure that all your business data is secure.
  

Authentication

You have to log into your account often, which ensures that only authorized individuals have access to your data.

Encryption

Encryption, or encoding your files, ensures that all information is secured. Encryption turns data into a code for security purposes. If a file has been encrypted and is later obtained by an unauthorized user, it will be difficult for them to decode it.

Activity monitoring

You have full control over who can access your files and what they can do with those files. You can see which users are accessing your cloud storage system and check how they are interacting with the files they have accessed.

Conclusion

With the increasing need for effective collaboration, it is clear that we have outgrown email attachments. Instead, there is a better way to work: use Cloudfiles.io. This powerful software lets you store documents in one place and share them with anyone in your organization who needs access—no matter where they are in the world.

If you are looking for a way to keep track of all your data, consider putting it in the cloud. CloudFiles' cloud storage makes it easy to find, organize, and manage your information and protects it from outside parties. With cloud storage, you can save time and money while keeping your data safe and secure.

So what are you waiting for? Move your business into the cloud today!