Email security is one of many forms of network security. Many organizations tend to overlook the importance of email security until it is too late. Why does email security matter? What are some of the biggest threats to email security? Most importantly, how can Mnemonix help protect your organization from email security threats?
Why Does Email Security Matter?
Email protection is one of the most important factors of cyber security. Cyber threats, like social attacks that target organizations via email have accounted for data breaches that can cost millions to recover. By only one user’s email being compromised, attackers can send phishing emails out to all of that person’s contacts – posing as the hijacked email account’s owner to gain trust and spread their attack further.
Based on the Ponemon Cost of a Data Breach study, organizations have been hit with data breaches that have cost upwards of $3.9 million to recover in 2019. Many security threats that leverage compromising an organization’s email account or email users can be easily avoided by using basic email protection, hence why it is so important to employ some email and user training security measures.
What are the Top Threats to Email Security?
To better protect against email security threats, it is important to know what the biggest threats currently are. The following is a short list of some of the most common or dangerous threats to an organization’s email security:
How Can Mnemonix Help Keep You Protected?
Where we deploy antivirus to all of our managed devices as well as monitor any anomalies in alerting, there are additional steps that can be taken to protect organizations. Creating a security education training and awareness program will help keep users up to date with the latest threats and phishing tactics. We like to believe that it is equally as important to keep users “patched” as it is keeping servers and other devices patched. By this, we mean keeping users trained and educated on threats will minimize the risk of falling victim to an attack. 70% of organization’s breaches come from within your network.
With our security awareness training program, we will work with yourself and your users to understand attackers email behaviors and what to look for in malicious emails. This service is included in all of our benchmark managed service offerings or can be done for as low as $1/month per user. With many users working from home, and cyber-attacks growing daily, studies suggest that the risk of employees being compromised will rise from 25% last year, to 33% as we continue into 2021. There is no better time to ensure your organization and its users are trained with a security awareness program. If you are interested about this program, or would like to hear more details, please contact Mnemonix. We are happy to work with you and build out a plan that best suits your organization.
Why Does Email Security Matter?
Email protection is one of the most important factors of cyber security. Cyber threats, like social attacks that target organizations via email have accounted for data breaches that can cost millions to recover. By only one user’s email being compromised, attackers can send phishing emails out to all of that person’s contacts – posing as the hijacked email account’s owner to gain trust and spread their attack further.
Based on the Ponemon Cost of a Data Breach study, organizations have been hit with data breaches that have cost upwards of $3.9 million to recover in 2019. Many security threats that leverage compromising an organization’s email account or email users can be easily avoided by using basic email protection, hence why it is so important to employ some email and user training security measures.
What are the Top Threats to Email Security?
To better protect against email security threats, it is important to know what the biggest threats currently are. The following is a short list of some of the most common or dangerous threats to an organization’s email security:
- Phishing Attacks
- According to statistics cited by TechRadar, there are at least 3.4 Billion fake emails sent out as a part of a phishing scam every day. These phishing attacks will send emails that contain fake links and attachments in hopes to get you to click on them. Once clicked, malicious software can be installed, or you could be redirected to a fake website where they may try to collect your login information.
- Spear Phishing Attacks
- Spear Phishing attacks are a specific subset of attacks that are highly customized and targeted to a specific individual or organization. These attacks will typically mimic the tone and style of an organization’s official communications, incorporate copies of the organization’s letterhead and logo, and use the same or similar email domain of the organization. These attacks are a major threat because they can trick even the experienced individuals into making mistakes.
- Weak Email Passwords
- Weak email passwords are another common way that emails get hijacked. Attackers simply guess the account’s password, and if there is no multi-factor authentication enabled, they can get logged in. Accounts that have a weak or easy password can be hijacked without the user knowing – then get used to send out phishing emails from a legitimate company address. According to the 2019 DBIR, about 80% of attacks made users compromised due to weak passwords.
- Malicious Download Links and Attachments
- Many phishing attack emails include links or attachments that are primed with malware. Different types of malware can be used with different kinds of results. Ransomware will encrypt all of the data on the affected computer’s drive and/or network if it is connected with elevated rights. Attackers will then demand a payment for the encryption key. Other malware programs may simply sit on the individual’s device and collect information such as login data, financial data and patterns of communication to use or transmit to an offsite server for an attacker to collect later.
How Can Mnemonix Help Keep You Protected?
Where we deploy antivirus to all of our managed devices as well as monitor any anomalies in alerting, there are additional steps that can be taken to protect organizations. Creating a security education training and awareness program will help keep users up to date with the latest threats and phishing tactics. We like to believe that it is equally as important to keep users “patched” as it is keeping servers and other devices patched. By this, we mean keeping users trained and educated on threats will minimize the risk of falling victim to an attack. 70% of organization’s breaches come from within your network.
With our security awareness training program, we will work with yourself and your users to understand attackers email behaviors and what to look for in malicious emails. This service is included in all of our benchmark managed service offerings or can be done for as low as $1/month per user. With many users working from home, and cyber-attacks growing daily, studies suggest that the risk of employees being compromised will rise from 25% last year, to 33% as we continue into 2021. There is no better time to ensure your organization and its users are trained with a security awareness program. If you are interested about this program, or would like to hear more details, please contact Mnemonix. We are happy to work with you and build out a plan that best suits your organization.
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