Why Email Security is Important
Email is universally used in business communications, which makes it a prime target for cybercriminals. All it takes is one perfectly crafted email for attackers to gain unauthorized access to systems or have a wire transfer sent their way. Other than abandoning email completely, how can organizations be prepared to face these threats? In this article, we unpack how attackers use email to gain access to critical systems and data and explain how your organization can make it more difficult for them to succeed.
Types of Email Threats
Phishing
Phishing is probably the most familiar email security threat. Phishing emails have threatened to business security since the early days of the Internet. Simply put, phishing attacks try to trick users into taking a specific action- clicking a link loaded with malware, handing over confidential financial information, or even sharing login credentials. The most successful attacks rely on social engineering to craft a plausible seeming email that someone will act quickly on before critical thinking sets in. As the Internet has evolved, phishing scams have become more sophisticated and easier to execute. AI writing tools have made it easier for attackers to create convincing emails, removing language barriers and correcting any obvious grammar mistakes. In addition, the widespread use of social media and public-facing online activity has made it easier for attackers to discover relevant information about their potential victims. They can use this information to craft even more compelling emails, using social engineering to manipulate their victims. Phishing remains one of the most successful types of cyberattacks out there, simply because it is easy to execute and scale.
Business Email Compromise
Business email compromise (BEC) threats are often executed via phishing attacks. In this scenario, the attacker impersonates someone who the victim is likely to respond to- this could be a CEO, manager, or even a vendor or partner. Sometimes the impersonation is carried out by spoofing or faking a known email address, and other times attackers are able to take over another email account and use it for their own purposes! This is the scariest scenario, as technical monitoring methods may not detect phishing emails sent from legitimate email accounts. You may think you are paying a vendor for services but instead find that your payment is routed to an offshore bank account. Business email compromise scams have become incredibly common, the FBI reports that $2.9 billion was lost in BEC scams in 2023.
Ransomware
Ransomware is one of the most frightening attacks executed by cybercriminals. In a ransomware attack, a cybercriminal gains access to an organization’s systems and locks everyone else out, holding the organization’s data and systems hostage until a ransom payment is made. Healthcare organizations are particularly susceptible to this threat. When their systems are offline, they may be unable to administer care, putting lives at risk. So how does email fit into ransomware threats? A phishing attack can lead to credential theft, giving an attacker access privileges into systems that they can escalate until they are able to lock out all other users. Sometimes, attackers will use malicious links to deliver malware onto the victim’s computer that can be used to open backdoors to systems, install keyloggers, or execute gather other information that can be used to launch a ransomware attack. Ransomware attacks have a huge payout if successful, and attackers are willing to take their time until they succeed.
Ways to Improve Email Security
When faced with the threats above, what are organizations to do? We look at a few ways that email security tools can reduce the risk of cyberattacks.
Spam Filters
Spam filters are one of the key weapons in the fight against phishing. It’s impossible to click on malicious links if they never make it to the intended recipient’s inbox.
However, overly restrictive spam filters can irritate users and lead to missing emails. One option is to “quarantine” suspicious emails and move them to a holding space that’s not the recipient’s inbox. Attackers count on their victims taking quick actions without thought, so putting up a slight barrier can create just enough resistance to stop successful attacks.
Access Controls
Access controls can help prevent account takeovers and unauthorized access to email accounts. Sometimes attackers will gain access to employee email and gather intel that can be used for further attacks. Think about all the emails you send on a day-to-day basis. Now imagine if an attacker had access to all that correspondence- it could be a major issue! Skilled attackers don’t even need to send an email to be successful.
Now take it a step further- if an attacker gained access to your inbox and pretended to be you- what kind of trouble could they get up to? The list is long- they could likely mess with your payroll, reset your passwords to gain access to your systems, and expand the scam to extort your partners or vendors.
Strong passwords and authentication are a must. Other access controls like role-based (related to job function) or attribute-based (device, location, clearance, etc.) restrictions can all prevent attackers from invading your inbox.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-Factor Authentication, or MFA, is important in multiple ways. First, as we discussed above, it prevents unauthorized access to your own email accounts, helping keep attackers from eavesdropping and account takeover. In addition, multi-factor authentication is a key step that makes you slow down when attackers are trying to get you do what they want quickly and provides a backstop if an attack does succeed. Even if you do hand over a password to the “CEO,” they won’t be able to do much with it if the company has MFA in place for important systems.
Encryption
Encryption is essential to prevent eavesdropping during the transmission of email messages across the web. Intercepted emails can be altered or tampered with on the way to their intended recipient. If an email message contains sensitive data like financial information, login credentials, or even seemingly mundane data like vendor or partner contacts and is read without your knowledge, an attacker could use this information to infiltrate your organization.
Security Awareness Training
Security awareness training is perhaps the most important preventative measure you can take to protect your organization. Educating your employees on today’s threats and building trust with those on the front lines is extremely important. IT and security personnel are not the only ones that need to be aware of these threats. Accounting and finance teams, human resources departments, and the C-Suite are all prime targets because of the information they have access to as part of their daily duties. Regular training on threats and creating a culture of trust is essential for your security program’s success.
Back Ups
What if something goes wrong? Having a backup or archive of all your emails and logs is incredibly important and can be a lifesaver if an attacker infiltrates your systems. Not to mention, it’s a compliance requirement in some industries!
Sender Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
These are more technical security features that can help identify spoofing and impersonation. SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework (SPF). It is used to authenticate the identity of an email sender. With an SPF record in place, Internet Service Providers can verify that a mail server is authorized to send email for a specific domain. This helps prevent spoofing.
DKIM helps verify the source of an email message and validates that messages were not modified on their way to a recipient. If messages are modified before delivery, the fingerprint of the message will then change and no longer match.
Most major email service providers support SPF and DKIM, and you can also use them in combination with your email filtering system. A DMARC policy instructs your email server or filtering service what to do with a message that fails SPF or DKIM authentication.
Why Choose Managed Email Security
Most basic email systems are not configured with security features right out the box. Sure you’ll have some basic spam filtering in place, but when hundreds of thousands of dollars and your company’s reputation are on the line, it is not enough. Contact us today to learn more about our managed email solutions.
