What is the email security policy?
Email security threats are increasing. According to a study conducted by Cyber Security Hub for its Mid-Year Market Report, 2022, 75 percent of cyber-security practitioners believe that email-based threats such as social engineering and phishing are the “most dangerous” cyber-security threat. This asset must be protected without compromising the efficiency of communication.
Email security is essential for protecting brands from external threats, but it’s also important to protect customers from threats that come from outside. Email security is necessary to protect companies, clients, and customers from cyber security incidents like phishing, data breaches, and business email compromise.
Cybersecurity threats can also be found in companies. For example, employees who lack knowledge about cyber security. Stanford University research found that employee mistakes caused 88% of data breaches. This means companies need to be extra vigilant when training their employees. The training should be in a format that is easy to understand so employees can retain the information and avoid future mistakes.
If not addressed quickly and effectively, this threat can cause further damage to a company’s brand. Even loyal customers can only gain trust in an organization if they feel confident in its cyber security strategy. This is especially true when personal data are at stake.
Weak email security is a vulnerability.
It is dangerous for an organization to ignore email as a potential security risk. Deloitte, a professional services network, reported 2020 that 91% of all cyber attacks began with phishing emails.
Poor email security can present a variety of threats, from social engineering, phishing, and account compromise, to data theft and takeover. Phishing attacks target passwords and accounts which could contain valuable and sensitive customer information. Credential theft can also be a problem, as employees often reuse passwords across multiple platforms in their personal and professional lives. This weakens a company’s security if one or more accounts are compromised.
Email security is not just about the software. It’s also about the employees who can understand how and why the company could be attacked by email and what they should do in case of compromise.
Phishing campaigns can have devastating consequences for businesses. In 2014, Sony Pictures employees, including system engineering and network administrators, were mid-year market report 2022 said that email-based attacks such as phishing or social engineering, which directly target employees in a business, can have devastating effects on businesses.
Cyber attacks that directly target employees within a company place the responsibility of preventing the attack from progressing in their hands. These attacks also rely heavily on the psychological manipulation of employees. These attacks can effectively convince employees to behave in ways they wouldn’t normally do, even if the employee has received security training. These attacks are deemed the “most dangerous” threat to cyber security.
How well employees can evaluate whether an email they receive is safe can affect the effectiveness of phishing.