A survey of 295 professionals — mostly but not entirely IT professionals — has found that 85% of respondents see email threats bypass email security controls and make it into the inbox; 40% see weekly threats; and 20% have to take significant remediation action on a weekly basis.

Email security firm GreatHorn wanted to examine the state of email security today, nearly fifty years after email was first developed. Its findings (PDF) will not surprise security professionals. Breach analyses regularly conclude that more than 90% of all breaches start with an email attack. Indeed, the GreatHorn research shows that the majority (54.4%) of corporate security leaders (that is, those who hold the CISO role) consider email security to be a top 3 security priority.