Oops. Have you ever hit SEND just as you realize that you are sending an email to the wrong person or group? Well, imagine how one Gwent Police officer felt when he accidentally forwarded an unprotected Excel spreadsheet containing sensitive information on over 10,000 people…to a journalist.

The officer, now facing a gross misconduct investigation and possible termination, sent an Excel file attachment containing names, dates of birth, and detailed results of criminal background investigations on 10,006 individuals dating back to 2001.

It is up to the Gwent Police to determine whether it was negligence, incompetence, or simple human error that led to this data breach. But, incidents like this are preventable if you remove the human error factor from the equation. Zecurion Zgate monitors inbound and outbound email for sensitive information and ensures that private and confidential data is handled according to established rules and policies and that sensitive data is not transmitted unencrypted.