The Top Five Dangers to Email Security
Email is one of the most popular vectors that cybercriminals use to gain access to company networks and steal critical data. Email is also one of the most prevalent ways that cybercriminals send spam. Because of this, the security of email is an essential component of the cybersecurity strategy of any organisation.
The Effects of the Pandemic on the Safety of Electronic Mail
The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has a significant effect on many facets of commercial activity, including cybersecurity. As a result of the unexpected transition to remote work, many companies found themselves in the position of having to swiftly develop and expand infrastructure in order to serve their remote workforce. In many cases, the priority was placed on ensuring that the infrastructure was adequate to serve the newly added remote employees rather than ensuring that it was secure.
Criminals operating online have capitalised on the difficulties that the epidemic has caused for companies. The remote desktop protocol (RDP) and virtual private networks (VPNs) are two examples of the types of remote work infrastructure that are increasingly being targeted by malicious cyberattacks (RDP).
Phishing attacks have also been on the increase during the pandemic because the epidemic has supplied hackers with a wide variety of pretext possibilities that they may employ in their assaults. In addition, workers who work from home are not usually afforded the same safeguards as those who operate in an office setting.
The Importance of Protecting One's Email Account
The exploitation of email as an attack channel is one of the most popular tactics used by cybercriminals. Because email is so prevalent in the workplace, the vast majority of workers are familiar with it and have been conditioned to invest their faith in it. As a result, email is a strategy that has a high possibility of successfully reaching its intended recipient. Phishing and other email-based assaults are not only simple to carry out but also have the potential to result in huge financial gain for the perpetrator.
Due to these issues, email security is an essential component of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy for enterprises. Email-based assaults are effective for attackers, thus it is doubtful that they will be phased out any time in the near future. Organizations will only be able to defend themselves from the danger posed by email if they implement email defences that are both comprehensive and targeted.
Various Types of Dangers to Email Security
There are many different kinds of security risks associated with email. The following are some of the most typical types of assaults carried out through email:
The term "spam" refers to unwanted emails that are sent in large batches at once. Even while contemporary spam filters are quite effective and capture and prevent the vast majority of spam emails, it is still possible for one to get through and transmit hazardous material to the inbox of a user.
Phishing: Phishing emails utilise social engineering, spoofing, and other strategies to deceive the user into doing something for the attacker. These techniques are used to trick the user into doing something for the attacker. Phishing attacks may be employed for a number of purposes, including the theft of user passwords, data, or even money from its victims.
Business Email Compromise (BEC): Business Email Compromise assaults, also known as BEC attacks, are a specialised kind of phishing that are meant to steal money from a business. A phisher will imitate a person who has a high-ranking position in a company and will utilise the status and authority of that figure to tell an employee to transfer money to an account that is controlled by an attacker.
Delivering Malware Emails may either directly contain infection in their attachments or link users to fraudulent websites that actually distribute the malware. Emails masquerading as legitimate businesses are one of the most common ways that ransomware, trojans, and other forms of malware are distributed.
System Takeover A successful phishing attack may compromise user credentials or transfer malware to the computer of a receiver, allowing the attacker to take control of the recipient's computer and exploit it for their own purposes. After then, the machine may be connected to a botnet and put to use in many kinds of assaults, including distributed denial of service (DDoS).
Guidelines for Maintaining the Safety of Electronic Mail
It is vital to implement best practises for email security in order to defend the company from dangers that might be sent over email. The following are examples of some of the most critical email security rules that businesses should put into place:
Employees should be aware that the majority of assaults carried out through email are intended to deceive the receiver into doing an action that is detrimental to them but beneficial to the attacker. It is necessary for a business to train its staff to detect phishing emails and to report suspected attacks in the proper manner in order to effectively manage its cybersecurity risks.
Install Anti-Phishing Solutions: Anti-phishing solutions have the capacity to recognise the red flags that signal possible phishing emails and to stop harmful material from reaching the recipient's inbox. This is accomplished via the deployment of anti-phishing solutions. An company may significantly reduce the likelihood that a careless click will result in a breach of its information security when it implements anti-phishing technology.
Implement Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Phishing attacks are often meant to steal and exfiltrate sensitive information from a company through email. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) may help prevent this from happening. These assaults may be avoided with the assistance of DLP systems, which examine outgoing emails for anything that might be considered sensitive.
Make Use of Browser Safety Solutions: Phishing emails often seek to trick users into visiting dangerous links that lead to phishing websites. Users may be prevented from accessing websites that are known to have phishing material by using URL filtering, which is a function that safe browsing solutions are able to do.
Post a Comment