Businesses all across the world rely on email as a means of communication and collaboration in their daily operations. Email is currently the most serious threat vector in the world due to the fact that billions of emails are generated and received every single day.
The fact that email is the target of 96% of phishing attacks is cause for concern because it exposes businesses to the risk of having their data compromised. Infecting a company’s network with malicious links, attachments, or viruses will remain a challenge for as long as the problem itself persists in the commercial world.
Under these specific conditions, the safeguarding of the use of electronic mail for communication is an absolute requirement. As a result, securing the security of your email should be your top concern if you want to recognize and get rid of the potential hazards that are related with emails, such as phishing and spoofing.
Therefore, in light of these security difficulties, we have produced this email security guide in order to aid you in acquiring a better understanding of the possible dangers posed by email and the measures you may take to protect yourself from them. This guide is intended to assist you in gaining a better awareness of the potential dangers posed by email and the steps you may take to protect yourself from them.
What is Email Security?
The term “email security” refers to the protocols that are utilized to safeguard personal as well as business email accounts from being compromised by malicious software, phishing scams, or attempts to fake the sender’s identity.
In an organization’s information technology infrastructure, an email system is comprised of two fundamental components: mail clients and mail servers. Both of these components are essential to the operation of the email system. It is the responsibility of the mail client to format messages and send them to a mail server through the network architecture. A mail server is a type of computer that receives, processes, and stores electronic mail as well as transmits and stores it for other users. Protection is necessary for every component of the email infrastructure, including both the mail servers and the mail clients, as well as the infrastructure that supports both of these components.
Four Advantages That Businesses Can Derive From Investing in Email Security
Provides Defense Against Spoofing And Phishing Attacks:
Both spoofing and phishing can result in the theft of private information and enhance the possibility that harmful software or other viruses will be placed on a victim’s computer. Phishing can also lead to the theft of valuable information. Phishing and social engineering are two common methods that can lead to data breaches. In these breaches, credentials and personal data are more likely to be stolen than other forms of data. Encrypting your email is one way to significantly reduce the likelihood of running into such threats.
Precludes Company Email Compromise:
In the year 2020, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 19,369 reports of Business Email Compromise (BEC), which resulted in adjusted losses of more than $1.8 billion. It is absolutely necessary to make an investment in email security since it provides a comprehensive answer to the problem of email threats. It addresses the strategies employed by the hackers, offers visibility into the operations of hostile actors, and automates the detection and response to threats.
Helps Identify Email That Has Been Tampered With Or are Spam:
Despite the best efforts of the mailbox spam filter, harmful or spam emails may occasionally slip through. As a result, you open yourself up to the risk of engaging with such communications. The email security solution assists in the deployment of a collection of security layers, so ensuring that businesses continue to be productive despite constantly shifting dangers.
Safeguards Your Valuable Information:
As more companies move their operations to the cloud, cybercriminals are taking advantage of this trend to gain access to more data. The infrastructure that is hosted on the cloud provides access to various calendars, file repositories, and contact lists. Your data stored in the cloud can be protected if you use a powerful email security solution. Your data can be protected during email transmission by using one of the many security services that offer end-to-end encryption.
What Other Kinds Of Dangers Can Be Found In Email?
The following is a list of the types of email attacks that are the most common and widespread:
Email Spoofing:
When an email is spoofed, the sender’s data in the email header (the information that identifies the sender) are altered so that it appears as though the email was sent by a known sender. Because the sender’s information appears to be known, the recipients are more likely to fall victim to the threat posed by the email, and they may even open the email or interact with it.
Simply opening an email that is known to contain malware or another virus might cause the device of the user to become infected with these viruses, leaving it susceptible to further attack.
Email phishing:
Phishing scams are by far the most common kind of malicious email activity. The malicious actors send a misleading email to the target in an effort to trick them into performing an action, such as opening a harmful attachment or clicking on a malicious link.
There are different types of phishing that aim to target different people:
Spear phishing:
The perpetrators of spear phishing spend a significant amount of time and resources conducting research on the individual or organization they intend to defraud. As a result, these types of phishing email attempts are difficult to spot.
Whaling:
Whaling is a form of spear phishing in which the target persona is an individual or individuals with a high authority position inside a business, such as the CEO or COO.
Business email compromise (BEC):
Business email compromise (BEC):
Business email compromise, also known as BEC, is a type of email cybercrime in which an attacker targets an organization with the intention of stealing money from the business. BEC is a significant and expanding risk that exposes businesses of all sizes and in every sector to the possibility of being attacked.
The BEC attacks that the hackers carried out in 2019 and 2020 resulted in the theft of more than 4 million USD from the government of Puerto Rico. The attacker gained access to official email accounts and then sent messages to government employees in a variety of departments, requesting that their payment account information be updated.
Unsolicited Spam Emails:
Unsolicited emails frequently end up in the spam folder and are highly likely to include phishing or spoofing scams, as well as other forms of dangerous content. The vast majority of the time, mailbox providers are successful in detecting them, but there are occasions when certain emails may get through. As a result, if you aren’t aware of these communications, they could potentially cause you harm. How can one protect himself from potential dangers posed by email?
The following is a list of the eight best practices in email security that you should follow in order to defend yourself from attacks via email.
Backup Vital Data Regularly:
The SMTP server administrator is responsible for ensuring that the data stored on the mail server is accurate. The mail server is frequently considered one of the most important and vulnerable servers on a company’s network.
Until they are activated, the ransomware attacks will frequently remain dormant in the mail server for several weeks. It is possible that when they are activated, they will delete all of the data that is stored on the server. You should set up automatic backups of your data to avoid a situation as unfair as the one described.
You have the option of creating copies of the original data in a variety of locations or configuring an automatic backup to occur at regular intervals.
Use Complex Passwords:
Hackers will frequently attempt to guess a user’s password in order to get access to their account. Because of this, you are more likely to be in trouble if the password you use is easy to figure out.
Therefore, select a password that is both robust and convoluted at all times. It should include letters, numbers, and any special characters that are allowed. In addition, make sure to use unique passwords for each of your accounts to lower the likelihood of having many accounts hacked at once.
Examine the Authenticity of the Email:
Email authentications are among the most effective methods for ensuring the safety of email communications. You can determine the legitimacy of the sender with the assistance of the authentication method, which makes use of cryptographic standards and protocols. Checking the email header will allow you to validate the sender’s identity by ensuring that the following information is being transmitted along with the email.
Domain Key Identified Mail (DKIM):
Offers an encryption key as well as a signature to verify that the content of the email has not been changed or tampered with in any way.
Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC):
Consolidates SPF and DKIM and provides assistance to the domain owner in taking corrective action in the event that any of these authentications fails.
Use 2-Factor Authentication:
By utilizing an additional line of defense, two-factor authentication can assist you in securing the safety of your data against potential breaches. Due to the additional layer of protection provided by two-factor authentication, it is possible to prevent hackers from obtaining access to sensitive data even in the event that the credentials of your organization have been compromised or stolen.
Scan And Inspect Emails In Your Network:
It is essential to conduct email scanning and inspection as soon as messages reach your email gateway. However, it is possible that it will not provide you with adequate visibility because a malicious file may later traverse the escape route. You must continue to analyze the files at all times, regardless of the initial destination of the files, in order to obtain complete insight into your network. It will assist you in identifying changes in patterns of behavior that are occurring inside your network. As a result, if you discover any harmful files or messages further down the line, you will be able to send an alarm to your team. This ensures that even the most advanced forms of malware that are able to circumvent your first layer of defense will be discovered and neutralized before they can cause any harm.
Run Frequent Email Security Assessments:
What would happen if the danger was still able to access your server and manipulate the data after you had implemented all of the security measures? You have no choice but to conduct an investigation into the security breach and think of measures to prevent it from inflicting any additional harm.
When you find a file that is harmful or fraudulent, you should study it to determine whether or not it exhibits any malicious behavior or activity. An investigation of this kind can assist you in understanding what the virus is trying to accomplish or is already accomplishing within your network. In addition to this, you can have an understanding of the level of threat, which will allow your security team to better prioritize and thwart such threats.
The following is a list of the most effective security solutions that can protect your email conversations from any risk.
Email Security Software Provided By Proofpoint:
Proofpoint is an industry-leading cybersecurity company that safeguards the information, people, and devices of businesses and other organizations. The Proofpoint Email Security and Protection Service provide the most effective unified response to safeguard your organization’s people and vital data against sophisticated email-based threats.
Contains:
- Protect yourself against potential dangers posed by imposters with our cutting-edge machine-learning technology.
- Protect yourself from fraudulent emails and suppliers.
- Identify and prevent the spread of sophisticated malware.
- Automatically pull harmful emails with a single click. Helps you identify people who are very frequently attacked (VAPs).
Conclusion:
The thieves that operate online never stop looking for new ways to get their hands on your private information. You have a responsibility to remain vigilant regarding the safety of your organization. In order to protect yourself from the growing number of email scams and hacks, you should use a reliable email security solution. It provides real-time monitoring in addition to a multilayer defense system in order to protect against spam and harmful mail.