Email marketers are already using generative AI to quickly create amazing marketing emails. Email’s use in business has also increased email-related cyber dangers.
Last year, 82% of Indian companies were hacked via email. Traditional email security systems cannot guard against sophisticated assaults including corporate email compromise (BEC), social engineering, and fraud. A multi-faceted email security plan is needed to safeguard enterprises, data, and individuals from these reputation-damaging attacks.
Email Threat Types
Understanding a business’s dangers is the first step to email security. Spam, malware, data exfiltration, phishing, and impersonation comprise 13 email dangers.
- 53% of global email traffic is spam.
- Email delivers 94% of malware, a more subtle menace. It’s meant to destroy, disrupt, steal data, or access remote systems.
- Data exfiltration is unauthorized remote data theft.
- Phishing accounts for 91% of cyberattacks and deceives victims into divulging personal information.
- Phishers commonly impersonate people, organizations, or services.
These combinations are used by hackers to launch 13 types of email threats. These include spam, malware, data exfiltration, URL phishing, scamming, spear phishing, domain/brand impersonation, extortion, business email compromise, conversation hijacking, lateral phishing, and account takeover.
Businesses need a multi-layered protection strategy that combines email gateway defenses with AI and API-based inbox defense to protect against even the most complex and targeted threats.
Traditional Email Security Limitations
Reputation filters detect low-reputation IPs and filter inbound and outgoing emails for dangerous content. It checks emails for viruses and malware, authenticates senders, and blocks phishing and malware distribution sites by analyzing URLs. Email gateways detect and block zero-day threats and ransomware with sandboxing.
Email gateways identify and prevent most malicious messages, but they have several drawbacks. They may not protect against spear phishing and business email compromise, which use social engineering tactics. API-based inbox defence is needed because 14 dangerous emails bypass regular email gateways annually.
API-Based Email Security
Traditional email gateway security protects against general assaults but not tailored ones. API-based inbox defense fills this gap. API-based inbox protection integrates with email infrastructure and analyzes email context and intent in real time. Machine learning is used to find patterns, analyze email traffic for anomalies, and block assaults before they reach users’ inboxes.
API-based inbox security lets companies prevent spear phishing and corporate email compromise in addition to real-time threat detection. These policies can be tailored to the organization’s needs and updated as the threat landscape changes to protect against imminent targeted attacks.
Informing Users About New Threats
Advanced technology and user education defend organizations from email threats. Organizations can filter questionable emails before they reach their recipients by combining email gateway defences, which can identify and block spam and malware, with API-based inbox defence, which can detect and prevent phishing assaults and impersonation efforts. This multi-layered method protects sensitive data against email threats.
Technology alone is insufficient. Email security requires user and employee education on the current dangers. Social-engineering phishing assaults can breach even the most secure email gateway. Employee security awareness training is crucial since human mistake causes 95% of security breaches. Employees can recognize and report malicious content by participating in continual simulation and training exercises.
Conclusion
Email security is essential to protecting your business from cyberattacks. Traditional email security measures no longer work as email assaults evolve. To fight against all email threats, your organization needs traditional email gateway security and API-based mailbox defense.
A robust email security strategy protects your organization, data, and employees from spam, malware, spear phishing, and BEC assaults. Understanding the current threat landscape and implementing strong email security measures may protect your organization from highly targeted email attacks and keep you ahead of the curve.
Disclaimer: The article’s writers’ opinions do not necessarily reflect this publishing house’s. The author writes himself unless otherwise stated. They are not official agency or institution positions.
APN Settings Team