What is Email Security?

Why Email Security Matters?

Email is profusely exploited for social engineering, with Business Email Compromise (BEC) being the primary target of attackers, threatening organizations for nefarious gains. The Data Breach Investigation Report reveals that 94% of malware is transmitted via email, while Cisco findings show that 96% of phishing attacks originate through email.

Before exploring sustainable email solutions, it’s crucial to understand the underlying reasons why email safety should be a top priority for every digital user. By analyzing these threats, individuals and organizations can take proactive measures to enhance their email security.

Adherence to Law

Businesses of diverse niches are bound to show compliance with the regulations under HIPAA and GDPR. These laws mandate the protection of private and sensitive data including network infrastructure, business information, and financial records. A secure email system can better secure digital assets and regulatory compliance serves as a force against spoofing, phishing, ransomware and other email-based threats.

Workforce Against Cyberattacks

Without security, the digital world is the house for criminals. Hackers can easily misuse sensitive data for fallacious purposes. No matter how technology has evolved, email service is still vital. A robust email security system barricades cybercriminals to prevent an organization from falling into the hands of digital intruders.

Encrypted Business Communication

A protected email service is fundamental to keeping an organization’s communication encrypted and daily operations secure. With a robust and shielded email system in place, businesses can experience the real-time protection necessary to keep their susceptible data safe from malicious threats. The modern digital landscape thrives to prepare users for technology-forward email safety.

Effective Technology Integration

Email service providers continue updating accounts for robust and secure operations by users. Sometimes users remain oblivious of the latest email security features to configure for necessary data protection. Here the email attackers find room for malicious activities. A protected email system with AI-powered and automation-based security gateways actively keeps sensitive data encrypted.

Reduction of Downtime

Business organizations work on efficient and secure digital patterns where email safety comes first. Email protection is important to put the long-standing issue of operational downtime to rest by fixing all the red flags. It is beyond exaggeration that layered defenses are best to ensure proven security practices against cyber attacks.

How Protected is Email?

When it is proclaimed that email is a top threat vector due to its widespread usage as a ubiquitous tool, it is not an exaggeration. Email is available in an open format and can easily be read on any device without decryption once intercepted.

Let’s dive into some key highlights to understand the security vulnerabilities of email and explore better measures to protect it from cybercriminals.

• Email data does not go directly to the recipient.
• It travels through various networks and servers, some are unsecured before landing in an inbox.
• A malware-free device for the recipient is not sufficient to ensure email safety. Since the network or server email has to travel through various steps and likely message security has been compromised.
• Digital scammers can easily impersonate a sender to manipulate email content, including email body, URLs, attachments and more.
• Each email contains fields having metadata details about the email like the origin and destination details, etc.
• A hacker only needs to access this particular metadata and modify it as necessary to obtain the targets.

Isn’t it equal to putting your sensitive data in limbo by using an email without security protocols? Many of you hardly anticipated the vulnerability of an email to such an extent as spotlighted above. Over the years, business organizations have been upgrading email authentication, making it challenging for hackers to exercise their data-based plans. Yet, email threats have upped the ante for uncrackable email service systems.

Ways Email Messages Can Be Compromised

Every organization strives to implement a secure email gateway but often falls short of achieving fully security-packed results. Cybersecurity professionals are well aware of the major email-based threats, and stopping the influx of malicious inbound traffic, as well as preventing infected outbound traffic, is essential to safeguard sensitive data transmitted to external parties via email.

Are you curious about the key components involved in email manipulation? Let’s explore the distilled points below.

• The attachment type of the email
• The body of the email message
• URLs mentioned within the email
• The sender’s email address

How do Email Security Attacks work?

Reconnaissance is the starting point of any email attack, where threat actors gather sensitive data using both internal techniques and public sources. Once they collect the necessary information, they craft convincing malicious emails or launch exploits to gain access to sensitive data or accounts.

Credential theft is the most common method attackers use to compromise targets. They often trick users into entering login details on scam websites or install malware to extract saved passwords from browsers. Once attackers control an email account, they can easily exfiltrate sensitive information or impersonate the account owner for fraudulent purposes. Below are some common types of email attacks.

• Spyware
• Phishing attacks
• Password spraying
• Zero-day attacks
• Credential stuffing
• Malware-infused attacks
• Session hijacking
• Brute force attacks
• Whale phishing
• Web browser infections
• Denial of service
• Identity theft
• Brand impersonation
• Adversary-in-the-middle attack

How to Ensure Office 365 Cloud Email Security?

A robust email security posture contains multi-layered security measures. It primarily includes security intelligence across the entire architecture and encryption to prevent data leakage. Microsoft Office 365 is a standard professional communication platform in organizations, whether small businesses or large enterprises, around the world.

Besides cost-effective features, it is easy to operate with cloud email security at the disposal of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection. The prevalent use of Office 365 has made it an attractive attack surface for cyber attackers. It accentuates the need for upgraded cloud email protection measures. Follow the best security practices to keep digital swindlers away from Office 365.

• MFA techniques
• Regular phishing scan
• DMARC domain protection
• Enable message quarantine feature against malicious attacks
• Launch integrated cyber security solutions