Email Security: Defend Threats Targeting Your Workforce

An email has become a crucial tool for communication in the digital world. It is used for both personal and professional purposes, making it a valuable target for cybercriminals. Hence, email security has become a critical aspect for organizations and individuals alike. Cyberattacks via email can come in many forms, including phishing scams, malware, and ransomware. Business email compromise (BEC) is another growing threat that specifically targets businesses. BEC scams trick employees into transferring money or sensitive information to the attacker’s account by posing as a trusted source. A recent report¹ from a popular IT firm revealed that 75% of cyber-attacks in 2021 originated from emails. Such hard-to-detect attacks can lead to identity theft, financial loss, and data breaches.

The threat of Phishing Emails is Constantly Rising

In another latest report², we got some insights into the state of phishing attacks occurring around the globe. The report states that around 83% of companies suffered a successful email-based phishing attack in 2021, as compared to 57% in the year 2020. Furthermore, the report found that BEC attacks have increased by 18%, rising from 65% in 2020 to 77% in 2021.

Based on the statistics presented above, it is quite clear that cybercriminals prefer the email channel to steal critical data and earn billions of dollars each year. In a recent incident at Allegheny Health Network in July 2022, threat actors socially engineered Mailchimp employees into handing over their credentials, which were later used by criminals to gain access to Mailchimp customer accounts. Hackers got access to 319 Mailchimp customer accounts and exported the mailing lists associated with 102 of them. They also obtained Application Programming Interface (API) keys, which they could use to launch additional email-based phishing campaigns in an automated fashion.

The growing volume of Malicious Emails is Increasing Security Stress

Each year, the number of e-mails sent and received worldwide increases. According to estimates, nearly 333.2 billion emails were delivered worldwide in 2022. By the end of 2025, this volume is expected to reach the mark of 376.4 billion. (Source: Oberlo)

Unluckily, such a massive increase in email volume will also surge the volume of phishing emails that organizations must detect and manage. For instance, a recent report from UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) shared insights on the surprising volume of email attacks in 2021. There were around 150,317 phishing attacks in January 2021, which later rose to 4,135,075 in December 2021. Moreover, it was noticed that Malware attacks started via phishing, growing with a 423% increase in 2021.

How to Counter the Email-Borne Threats?

Bytetra provides a comprehensive, highly integrated, and highly customizable Email Security solution to significantly reduce the risk of data breaches caused by sophisticated email-based attacks. Our dedicated security platform detects, isolates, and prevents malicious URLs and attachments from reaching an employee’s inbox. It accomplishes this with the assistance of advanced detection engines and threat intelligence. The solution also scans outgoing email traffic for advanced threats, spam, and viruses, as well as ensures data protection and compliance capabilities.

Some of its salient features include:

• Provides comprehensive inbound and outbound email security
• Utilizes advanced techniques, along with behavioral AI to detect and thwart socially-engineered attacks
• Support to automate email triage, remediation, and reporting
• Swift deployment and easy to use
• Provision for monitoring configuration changes

Benefits of Implementing Bytetra’s Highly Trusted Email Security Platform

Organizations can gain greater visibility into the attack surface and manage real-time protection by integrating our powerful Email Security solution. The following are some of the key advantages of implementing our solution:

• Superior Defense against Business-Email Compromise (BEC) Attacks. Reportedly³, BEC attacks accounted for 35% of all losses due to cybercrime in 2021. It has become one of the most prominent threats to organizations, with an estimated 2.4 billion USD loss in the year 2021 only. Our trusted solution brings together advanced capabilities, combined with API-based architecture to counter a multitude of BEC attacks, including:
  • Wire transfer requests
  • Invoice fraud
  • Payroll diversion
  • Gift card requests

• Extremely Effective at Preventing Supply Chain Compromise Attacks. Supply Chain Compromise, also termed Vendor Email Compromise (VEC), has grown exponentially in recent years as adversaries are targeting the weakest link between third-party vendors and organizations. As per market estimates⁴, VEC attacks have risen to 156% from July 2020 to June 2021. VEC attacks can be executed via different methods, like:
  • RFQ scams
  • Billing account update frauds
  • Payment frauds

Our intelligent Email Security platform utilizes behavioral data science to profile and baseline good behavior and detect anomalies. It uses deep content analysis to identify and prevent emails that include suspicious information or requests. Additionally, the solution continuously monitors the communication between vendors and companies in order to provide a real-time assessment of vendor risk.

• Reduces the Likelihood of Account Takeovers. A compromised account is a very dangerous threat to an organization because it provides attackers with access to business-sensitive assets. Such accounts are then used to steal money, send fake deposit transfer requests, etc. Account takeovers are frequently carried out through phishing, credential stuffing, and brute force attacks. Because of the following factors, these attacks have a high success rate:
  • A cover of legitimate employee identity to bypass a secure email gateway
  • Lack of security awareness training among employees
• Seamless Integration. It can be easily integrated into your existing security stacks, such as SIEM, SOAR, detection tools, and ticketing systems. It also connects with Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, G Suite, Slack, Splunk, and others.
• Comply with Regulatory Requirements. Email security is now regarded as a required control that assists businesses in remaining in compliance with applicable industry regulations. Failure to meet such requirements can expose your company to fines and lawsuits from customers if their data is compromised.

Bottom Line: Every Business Must Embrace an Advanced Email Security

Not every attack begins with massive vulnerability exploitation. Some incidents might happen through the act of opening a suspicious/infected document or clicking on a malicious URL embedded in an email message.  If the email system is vulnerable, then it is highly possible that phishing emails will find their way into your workforce inbox. Each enterprise should have greater visibility of the threats it faces. In an age where information is everything, Email security solutions are critical as they become the crucial barrier for confronting advanced and targeted email-based attacks.

References:

• Trend micro annual report 2021
• https://venturebeat.com/security/22-very-bad-stats-on-the-growth-of-phishing-ransomware/
• IC3 internet crime report 2021
• Abnormal report