Importance of Email Security and Ways To Safeguard It

Because practically every firm utilizes email and the average employee, as we all know, receives a lot of emails, emails are an efficient first infection vector. Due to a large number of emails, employees have only a limited amount of time to spend on each one, leading to a false impression of security. Phishing attacks, which have become more widespread and successful as cloud-based email has grown in popularity, take advantage of this.

Threats to Email Security

Phishing A phishing email is aimed to take advantage of your company's employees through social engineering. If a user clicks on a malicious link or opens an infected attachment, the attacker can steal login credentials and other personal information, as well as install malware on the employee's computer or laptop. Cybercriminals can then use their newly gained access to the company network to steal sensitive data or carry out other assaults.

Over 90% of cyberattacks start with a phishing email, and this is because phishing emails are so successful. It is a lot easier to persuade an employee that they need to do something with their Netflix account or make a payment to a vendor than it is to find and exploit a flaw in a company's security systems.

Credential Theft

A phishing email can be designed to obtain a username and password from an employee. These credentials can be used to gain remote access to services on-site and on the cloud in order to steal data or execute other tasks.

Ransomware

Phishing emails are one of the most common ways for ransomware to spread. A ransomware attack encrypts all files on compromised machines and demands money to unlock them. Even if the ransom is paid, there is no assurance that the files will be returned.

Employee Negligence

Poor data and email security among an organization's workers can be just as destructive as a cybercriminal assault. If sensitive data is exchanged with an unauthorized person via email or cloud-based solutions, it might be leaked and made available to hackers. Email security necessitates the use of a data loss prevention system.

Social Engineering

Some phishing emails have no dangerous material, such as phishing links or malware attachments. Instead, they deceive the user into performing a task, such as wiring money to a certain bank account. These assaults will be entirely missed by email security systems that solely search for malware or phishing links.

Tips to Safeguard your Emails

There's no escaping the truth that your firm will never be safe from data theft or hacking if your passwords are weak. Take a look at the passwords and phrases that people in your office are currently using. Then, using the suggestions below, you must enhance them:

1. Make your passwords long

2. Make your password a ‘nonsense’ phrase

3. Include numbers, symbols, and lowercase and uppercase letters

4. Do not reuse old passwords

5. Use a password manager

- Use of the most recent email authentication methods, such as DMARC, SPF, DKIM, and BIMI is required. These email authentication mechanisms keep your email safe and secure both in transit and after it arrives in your inbox. Only verified IP addresses are allowed to travel through the filters, and they make it a point to only allow safe emails to flow through. EmailAuth goes above and beyond by taking care of everything for you! Yes, it takes care of all your email authentication needs. It is recommended that these remedies be implemented as soon as possible.

- Create a distinct SMTP account for each sender if your company has a large number of people sending emails. That way, if a user's computer is hijacked and starts sending spam, it's simple to disable that one SMTP username without harming other users. Of course, you should change the password on the infected PC as well as the SMTP account right away.

- When opening attachments, use caution. If at all feasible, examine every email with an attachment before opening it, especially if it contains sensitive information.

For the best in business email security services, check out EmailAuth today. We provide total email security solutions based on the needs of your organization. From automated DMARC, BIMI, SPF, and DKIM deployment to Email Remediation services… we’ve got it all!