Despite the rise of social media messaging services and instant messaging platforms, email is still an essential part of our lives. The reasons for the popularity of email include its simplicity, accessibility, speed, flexibility, and convenience.
However, some of these very characteristics make email vulnerable to hackers who use attack vectors like malware, brute force attacks, and phishing. Billions of emails are exchanged globally every day, and billions of phishing emails are sent out every day.
Email security is critical because it protects people who use email, their contacts, and even the businesses they interact with from various cybersecurity attacks. Email security helps preserve an organization’s productivity, reputation, and brand, and carefully cultivated business relationships.
Despite the importance of email security, far too many individuals and organizations fail to take it seriously. Most cyberattacks start with a threat via email, and the consequences can be severe. A breached email account can result in attacks on an entity’s privacy and security. A compromised email account is also an easy entry point to other devices, accounts, networks, and organizations.
It can take years for victims of identity theft to recover from the crime. Likewise, the worldwide cost of cybercrime is estimated to be in the trillions, according to researchers.
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The collection of tools and practices leveraged to protect email communication from unauthorized access, corruption, or theft is defined as email security. Email security includes anti-malware tools, spam filters, anti-phishing technology, multi-factor authentication, and email security testing services. With good email security, individuals and organizations can mitigate the risk of data theft and protect their privacy.
Email was invented when the Internet was in its infancy. It wasn’t designed to be secure from modern threats. However, there are tools and protocols that can make email more secure.
A large-scale cyberattack often starts with an email. Any cyberattack can significantly downgrade a business’s branding and reputation, impacting its relationships, stock value, and customer confidence.
A cyberattack resulting from poor email security can result in operational disruption. It can also lower employee morale and hurt workflow.
Email security can mitigate the risk of data breaches. It helps organizations comply with regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Protection of Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
After bypassing email security, attackers can steal intellectual property or launch a ransomware attack. They can also engage in other financial crimes. For example, they may trick employees into paying fraudulent invoices.
Detonation email security services can scan emails entering and leaving an organization for malware. Such services are essential because they can block ransomware, Trojans, viruses, worms, and spyware from infecting company systems.
Sometimes network specialists need to run a malicious email attachment to learn more about it and its sender. Email sandboxing is a technique where email security services can safely run malware in an isolated environment for analysis. Observing how an attachment reacts can help an organization gain valuable intelligence.
Content and image control email security services use technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to analyze content for unsafe patterns. Such services can block different types of potentially unsafe content.
Email security authentication systems are essential defense mechanisms against spoofed emails. They ensure the validity of senders and can either flag suspicious messages or reject them entirely.
Data encryption mitigates the risk of email interception. Encrypted emails are only readable to the sender and recipient. Threat actors are unable to read the content of encrypted emails from servers.
Filters will automatically block emails from blacklisted addresses or emails that carry certain keywords or display threatening patterns. They may block emails with attachments that try to access a user’s system registry or sensitive folders. Email attachments that try to communicate with external IP addresses or attempt to download external files or open websites will also be blocked.
Spam sent via email can be just as distasteful as the canned version. Any unsolicited message sent in bulk is classified as spam. While advertising spam is usually harmless, other types of spam can compromise email security, like malspam.
So, what is malspam? In a nutshell, malspam is a spam email that carries malicious software. Some attackers also send phishing emails in bulk, hoping to trick a few users into making bad decisions.
Malware, also known as malicious software, is any program that can harm a system or network. Threat actors often use email as an attack vector to deliver the following types of malware:
Attackers may also enslave computers, smartphones, or company endpoints into their botnet via an email attachment or link that carries DDoS tools. But what is DDoS? DDoS stands for Distributed Denial of Service. Attackers use this type of attack to attack websites and online services with hijacked devices that form botnets.
As mentioned, ransomware is a type of malware that is often delivered via email. The malware can hold data hostage for an extortion fee. Although larger organizations have the resources to recover from a ransomware infection, many small to medium-sized businesses fail to recover from such an attack. We suggest businesses invest in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) technology that can stop ransomware. Read up on what is EDR to understand how it can protect your organization from ransomware.
Business email compromise is a type of attack where scammers use email to deceive someone into sending them money. BEC attackers can use phishing or different account hacking techniques to achieve their goals. Recovery, like a recent example of 800K recovered from a BEC attack by law enforcement, is uncommon.
Some BEC scammers go after more than just money, according to a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA). For example, they may also steal data and products. But the ultimate goal is financial gain.
We recommend using Malwarebytes Business EDR for email security because it negates the tools attackers use to breach security, like phishing sites, malware, and exploits.
Phishing is a common social engineering attack technique on email. Attackers trick recipients into opening malware or links that lead to malicious websites. The website may either deceive the user into sharing confidential information or download malicious files without their consent or knowledge in a drive-by download.
Likewise, the contents of the email may also lead the user to make a mistake, like offering their password, paying for a fraudulent invoice, or emailing compromised software to the entire office. You can read about the different types of phishing attacks and learn how they breach email security.
The process of email spoofing is as simple as it is effective. An attacker uses an email address that appears legitimate to make the email appear convincing. For example, instead of john@happyfriday.com, the email might say john@hapyfriday.com or jon@happyfriday.net.
Impersonation is a type of business email compromise phishing attack where a threat actor pretends to be a trusted person or entity to commit a financial crime. For example, an attacker may pretend to be a lawyer in an email to a client asking for payment.
Data exfiltration is a common goal for attackers of email security. By transferring sensitive data through phishing, spyware, or Trojans, hackers can commit different kinds of cybercrimes, from extortion to data sales on the Dark Web.
If you use email regularly, you should be concerned about brute force attacks. So, what is a brute force attack? Essentially, a brute force attack against email is a technique where a threat actor uses different password combinations to hack into an account by trial and error.
In addition to these tips, organizations should educate and train employees to manage phishing and other threats on email. Staff must stay vigilant and verify suspicious emails that may bypass protection measures. They must avoid opening strange links and attachments, and validate any unusual requests, even in today’s fast-paced work environment.
Security teams must be trained to monitor network traffic and utilize secure email gateways. Advanced threat protection tools, such as endpoint protection, can also help beef up email security.
An email security policy is a set of rules that governs email communication within an organization. It outlines the protocols for email usage, storage, device access, and managing email security threats. Create an email security policy to protect your organization, its employees, partners, and clients from different kinds of attacks.
A typical email security policy should highlight:
Email Security Awareness Training is one of the most effective strategies to safeguard your company's data. Through company-wide security awareness email training programs, your organization ensures everyone is educated on email safety best practices, reducing the risk of phishing incidents and email introduced malware. Read more on: What is a Phishing Attack?
Top Email Security Awareness Training Tips:
Everyone with a computer or device probably needs email security. If you use email to authenticate your social media, banking, or cryptocurrency accounts, email security can protect you from account takeover attacks. Likewise, if you use email to store or exchange sensitive data, such as pictures or documents, you need email security to preserve your privacy.
Even if you send and receive emails irregularly, email security can protect your computers and devices from malware. For example, an email filter may stop a malicious attachment like a macro virus or another type of malware from downloading to your system. Email password security will reduce the risk of a hacker breaking into your account and targeting your contacts with malware or phishing scams.
Here are some tips that can help you secure your email:
Finally, stay vigilant. Verify any suspicious emails that may have bypassed your filters and antivirus programs. Never click strange links or unsolicited attachments. And validate any unusual requests.
Anyone who uses email needs email security. Top email security can protect your security, and privacy, and shield you and your contacts from different types of attacks. Here are some people and entities that need email security the most:
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