Emails have become the main gateway for cyber attacks on companies. In this post, we review what aspects must be considered when considering investing in email security solutions that, among other capabilities, must report on which emails suffer the most cyberattacks to apply specific and practical measures.
A few years ago, jealous initial secrecy was replaced by a continuous chain of news about companies of all kinds that have suffered cyberattacks. Email is the starting point for many of them, so its protection must be a priority in the corporate cybersecurity strategy. The possibility of accessing grants from the Digital Kit to implement or optimize cybersecurity solutions is an excellent opportunity to deploy tools to protect corporate email.
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Main Email Cyberthreats
Cybercriminals discovered long ago that it is easier to target people than systems. Social engineering tests people’s caution when opening email, downloading files, or entering web pages through them. All of them are actions that can camouflage a cyber attack. Identity theft is the origin of the majority. It consists of the user receiving an email from a reliable person or entity and confidently carrying out their proposed actions, mainly making economic transfers.
This is how the cases of so-called CEO fraud arise (a supposed manager who suggests making a payment) and phishing (an email is received with a corporate image very similar to that of a company that is usually contacted in which access is requested. to a website to make a payment). Other times, downloading attachments or simply opening emails launch viruses and malware capable of blocking systems and corporate websites ( DDoS denial of service attacks ) or encrypting critical data. They are the dreaded ransomware that demands a ransom to restore compromised assets.
Basic Solutions To Protect Email
These actions in private emails already cause enough damage, but their impact within a shared and intercommunicated network can be lethal for business continuity. That is why it is essential to deploy cybersecurity solutions for email. Those solutions include both technological tools and a high dose of common sense. For starters, generating solid passwords is critical. In this way, it is difficult to steal these to access contact lists and impersonate identities. In this sense, it is recommended to configure them by mixing numbers, letters, uppercase, lowercase, and symbols.
It is important to frequently change passwords, something that complicates their use and administration. There is the possibility of storing them in a password manager safely and quickly starting the session that is needed. Email security is linked to antivirus, firewall, antispam and antispyware products to prevent and detect threats, but it is highly recommended to complement their potential with email threat simulators. These serve to simulate phishing attacks, audit the network’s state and the products mentioned above, and educate users by putting them to the test.
Block Email Cyberattacks And Prevent Them: What Is Very Attacked People
In addition to the considerations just discussed, the Proofpoint technology we work with at Orbit Consulting Group, as a specialist in email protection solutions, includes VAP (Very Attacked People) tools.
And it is that to prevent, detect and correct the attacks directed at corporate emails, it is necessary first to know which people are the most attacked by email. Knowing which are the most attractive profiles for cybercriminals makes it possible to identify which accounts have the most significant potential risk to act precisely on them, prioritizing mitigation.
Proofpoint is a leading global provider of email security technology. Its VAP solution generates a Personal Risk Index that provides a weighted composite score of all the threats an individual experiences, based on four key factors:
- Volume
- Type
- Targeting level
- Attacker sophistication
This tool to identify which people suffer the most attacks on their email differentiates Proofpoint from other manufacturers of cybersecurity solutions.
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