Every security leader knows the email threat landscape has evolved far beyond phishing and credential theft. Today, data loss is just as likely to result from a trusted employee as a threat actor.

A single mistyped name, outdated distribution list, or wrong domain can lead to regulatory exposure, reputational harm, and costly remediation. This is the outsized impact of misdirected email.

According to our latest survey of over 300 security and IT professionals, 96% of enterprises experienced data loss or exposure from misdirected emails in the past year, and 95% reported measurable business impact from compliance violations to lost customer trust. Yet 41% of organizations said they most often discover these incidents only when unintended recipients report them.

Even with years of investment in inbound security and fine-tuning DLP products, human error remains one of the most common—and costly—sources of data loss.

Abnormal’s new Misdirected Email Prevention, generally available today, finally closes that gap, using the same behavioral AI that powers our inbound protection to stop outbound data loss at the source.

Misdirected emails often slip past traditional defenses because they appear to be normal business communication. These aren’t attacks by threat actors but honest mistakes, legitimate messages sent to the wrong person, which legacy tools often miss because they can’t interpret behavioral context.

These seemingly small errors are the leading cause of accidental data loss¹ and the top-reported GDPR violation worldwide. Each one can trigger breach notifications under regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, and FINRA, regardless of intent.

Traditional tools are ill-equipped to stop these incidents:

• DLP systems rely on static policies that can’t interpret human context or intent.
  

• Secure email gateways protect inbound traffic but provide little outbound visibility.
  

• User training programs cannot prevent fast, unconscious actions, like selecting the wrong autocomplete suggestion.

The result is a reactive model where security teams spend hours investigating, remediating, and reporting incidents that automation could have prevented.

To truly manage this risk, security teams need visibility, context, and control before a data exposure occurs.

_{¹UK Information Commissioner's Office, 2024}

Misdirected Email Prevention analyzes communication behavior and context to identify when a sender is about to make a costly mistake, automatically quarantining the message and prompting user remediation.

With this approach, Abnormal delivers proactive protection that:

• Prevents accidental data loss through misdirected email in real time.
  

• Eliminates reliance on recipient or employee self-reporting.
  

• Reduces operational overhead for security and compliance teams.

It’s prevention, not reaction—and a critical step toward closing the outbound visibility gap.

Abnormal’s behavioral AI continuously models each user’s normal communication patterns to detect anomalies without requiring manual policy tuning.

1. AI Detection
Behavioral AI evaluates email context, communication patterns, and metadata to identify when an email is likely misdirected.

2. Automated Blocking
Flagged messages are automatically routed to Microsoft’s native quarantine before leaving the tenant, preventing data exposure while maintaining a seamless user experience.

3. End-User Remediation
The sender receives a notification explaining the issue and can choose to “Send Anyway” or “Cancel Sending.”

This approach empowers employees to self-correct while maintaining full security oversight.

4. Outbound Log and Audit Trail
Every detection, sender, recipient, and remediation action is captured in a centralized Outbound Log, providing audit-ready evidence for compliance and incident response.

5. Full Explainability of Detections
Details on detection analysis, as well as content of the email, are also provided within the Outbound Log.

Because Misdirected Email Prevention integrates natively with Microsoft 365 mail flow, organizations gain immediate protection with minimal configuration or operational impact.

Legacy DLP and SEG solutions were never designed to solve for human error. They protect data based on predefined rules and policies, not nuanced human behavior. These solutions don’t identify if a legitimate business email was simply sent to an incorrect email address.

Abnormal’s approach is fundamentally different:

• Behavioral Understanding, Not Rules
  Our AI learns each user’s communication norms and detects deviations that indicate risk—no keyword lists or regex patterns required.
  
  

• Proactive, Not Reactive
  Rather than alerting after exposure, Abnormal intercepts risky messages before they leave the environment.
  
  

• Zero Overhead for Security Teams
  Automatic quarantining and end-user remediation eliminate the manual triage that consumes hundreds of analyst hours per year.
  
  

• Enterprise-Ready Integration
  Built for Microsoft 365 environments, the solution deploys in minutes and aligns with existing compliance and audit frameworks.
  

For CISOs, that means actionable visibility, measurable risk reduction, and a meaningful decrease in operational noise.

Security leaders need solutions that balance protection with productivity. Misdirected Email Prevention provides measurable, immediate value:

• Extends AI Protection Across the Email Lifecycle
  Unifies inbound and outbound protection under one behavioral AI platform, reducing tool sprawl and simplifying governance.
  
  

• Reduces Risk Exposure
  Stops sensitive data from leaving the organization, preventing regulatory violations and reputational harm.
  
  

• Improves Operational Efficiency
  Automates detection and remediation, saving 400+ analyst hours annually otherwise spent managing false positives.
  
  

• Enhances Compliance Posture
  Maintains a defensible audit trail of every outbound event, supporting GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX reporting requirements.

With Misdirected Email Prevention, security teams gain the ability to manage accidental data loss with the same automation they already apply to inbound threats.

For years, security teams have accepted misdirected email as an unavoidable risk of doing business. But in an era where every data exposure carries regulatory and reputational consequences, “human error” is no longer an acceptable blind spot.

Abnormal’s Misdirected Email Prevention transforms the approach from reactive remediation to proactive control, using behavioral AI to detect risky outbound messages before they cause harm.

It’s the next evolution of data loss prevention: AI-driven, automated, and built for how people actually work.

Explore how Abnormal Misdirected Email Prevention uses behavioral AI to help prevent data loss caused by human error.