A quick start guide to email security

Emails go through external networks that are outside your company’s security boundary. When these messages are not encrypted, malicious actors can read, modify, and copy them at any point in time.

Your information technology (IT) department has a duty to keep your company’s email system secure and protected. But anyone within the organization is responsible for the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of email data. This responsibility highlights how crucial it is to educate employees about email security and its importance.

What Is email security?

Email security refers to the different procedures and strategies for protecting email systems, accounts, communication, and content against malicious actors. 

Today, hackers use these messaging systems to spread malware and conduct phishing attacks. They trick recipients into sharing sensitive data, opening infected attachments, or clicking on links that will install malware on a device. 

Because of the vulnerabilities present in email systems, they have been a favorite target for cybercriminals.

To address this problem, organizations are investing in various email security solutions. To address this problem, organizations are investing in various email security solutions, including managed cyber security services, advanced threat protection, and user awareness training to enhance their protection. Read on to discover how modern enterprises are benefiting from email security tools.

Benefits of effective email security

Today, people use email systems so freely. Unfortunately, this can make companies complacent about securing the data they share through emails. This problem can have severe consequences for businesses. 

To prevent this issue from occurring, organizations need to prioritize email security. Doing so can provide several benefits for enterprises.

Offers zero-day threats protection

Email security is crucial to protect your organization against a zero-day threat. 

Preventing a zero-day attack needs multiple layers of protection, and email security is one of them. Because hackers take advantage of this vulnerability by sending malicious links or attachments, a secure email system can help protect your company against this threat. 

Identifies suspicious actors

Email security can help in checking outbound messages for potential spam and other threats. It also gives your security department more control over outbound email messages to help them discover and deal with compromised accounts or other suspicious user behavior. 

With an effective email security platform, you can detect and alert employees who send or receive large volumes of emails, including bulk email messages. This activity can indicate a compromised account.

Provides spam and phishing protection

With a powerful phishing protection solution, you can defend your company against evolving phishing attacks. For this attack, hackers send an email that appears to be from a legitimate user to trick employees into revealing sensitive data. These can include account passwords, bank account numbers, or credit card information. 

If you have sophisticated email security measures, you can detect unwanted spam and phishing emails. These measures allow your employees to block or take other actions against emails with suspicious content.

Prevents ransomware attacks

You must know how to prevent ransomware attacks with a comprehensive email security strategy within your organization. These attacks involve gaining access to a company’s computer systems and blocking access through encryption. Hackers grant access only after the victims make a payment or a ransom.

Malicious actors carry out ransomware attacks via email. If you can block suspicious links and weaponized attachments, you can prevent the attack.

When you are using email security solutions, you can identify cyber threats ranging from spam to advanced malware. 

Email security can even protect your organization against Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks. This crime is a type of scam in which hackers target high-level employees of companies for fraudulent activities, like compromising wire transfer payments.

To learn more about the potential vulnerabilities in your email systems, read on and discover the common email security threats today.

Common email security threats

Malicious actors are taking advantage of the vulnerabilities in email systems to access confidential data, gain control over a company, or disrupt IT access to particular resources. 

If you're unaware of these potential gaps in your email systems, your company could be at risk. Here are the common threats to email systems today:

Malware

Hackers can take advantage of the gaps in an organization’s cybersecurity by using malware. This software carries viruses, Trojan horses, worms, and spyware. 

If successful, malware attacks can provide hackers with control over a company’s workstations and servers. Malicious actors can then exploit this access and change privileges, gain access to confidential data, monitor users' activities, and perform other actions that benefit their cause.

Spam and phishing

In a spam attack, hackers send a bulk of unwanted commercial emails, disrupting user productivity, and using resources excessively. Hackers use spam emails as a distribution mechanism for malware. 

If your company has compromised email systems, malicious actors can use them to deliver spam messages and execute phishing attacks. Phishing emails with malicious attachments can also transfer ransomware.

Threats from authorized users

As a business leader, you need to bring your email security to the next level if you want to address the evolving cybersecurity threats today. Failure to do so can compromise an individual’s privacy and the privacy of the company’s partners, employees, and customers.

Fortunately for you, there are many company-wide measures you can implement to fight phishing, malware, and other threats to your email security.

Vital email system security measures

As a business leader, you need to bring your email security to the next level if you want to address the evolving cybersecurity threats today. Failure to do so can compromise an individual’s privacy and the privacy of the company’s partners, employees, and customers.

Fortunately for you, there are many company-wide measures you can implement to fight phishing, malware, and other threats to your email security.

Cybersecurity training for employees

Employees are playing essential roles when it comes to defending against cyber threats. Your staff must be able to identify suspicious activities with no problems. 

It is recommended to evaluate your employees’ use of security practices through false phishing attacks. Doing so can help keep everyone within the organization sharp and vigilant. A company-wide scam detection exercise will help inform further security decisions and help you gauge every employee's security posture.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Today, passwords are not always enough to deter malicious actors from taking advantage of an organization’s vulnerabilities. Weak passwords and evolving password-stuffing attacks expose businesses to an even higher level of risk.

You can use multi-factor authentication (MFA) and two-factor authentication (2FA) to ensure the protection of your company. These login methods require users to input more than just one password before granting account access. 

With these methods, even if a hacker gets hold of your password, they still need to provide another code before they can access your email account. If you want to ensure maximum security, you can use password generators as well.

These procedures add various authentication measures, including answering a call, entering a one-time passcode, replying to a prompt through an app, or a message on your phone.

Domain-based message authentication, reporting, and conformance (DMARC)

DMARC is an email authentication protocol that organizations use to prevent domain spoofing. Cybercriminals try to make their phishing emails look credible by imitating domains that recipients trust. With DMARC, domain owners can easily identify who is sending emails and automatically quarantines suspicious messages.

Email protection tools you can use

Emails are a crucial source of sensitive data, and hackers can take advantage of vulnerabilities in your email system to steal this data. Defending against these different cyberattacks can be a complicated task. Fortunately, Namecheap offers unique and effective services that can help you protect your emails.

Namecheap email service

Instead of putting your trust in free email sites, like Yahoo or Google, use a paid email service for your business. With this service, if a hacker steals data through your email systems, you can get help from your email service provider. 

With a paid email service, your messages will also be less likely to be mistaken for spam. Because spam filters are more wary of messages from free email services, your emails can avoid your recipient’s spam folder.

Using a paid email service also makes your brand’s communications look more professional. By using free email services, you may send the wrong message to your clients. It could show:

• You are sending a personal email and not a business email.
• Privacy is not a priority for your business.
• You are not professional or serious enough to secure a domain name for your business.

Namecheap offers a secure email service that comes with the following features:

• Have a business email address that matches your website’s brand. This feature can help establish trust and credibility.

• Manage your email easier by using a unified inbox. You do not have to switch accounts to get or send emails.
• Customize your emails to suit your business goals better. Synchronize and share messages, calendars, appointments, and tasks with your contacts.
• Access all your email accounts everywhere, anytime. You can access Namecheap’s email service from any Android, Windows, or Apple device.

Jellyfish Spam Protection

Jellyfish Spam Protection is a smart email anti-spam security tool that has the following capabilities:

• Virus and spam removal
• Email threat removal
• Top-notch cloud technology features
• Spam manager

Jellyfish’s self-learning capabilities can help protect users from spoofing, viruses, phishing, and other possible email threats. It reviews not only text but also checks other attachments, including images, links, and files. 

The tool rejects malicious messages and runs automatic threat detection. It can also filter spam messages to keep your inbox free from unwanted and fraudulent emails.

Namecheap domain privacy service

Leaving your domain data exposed can pose many cybersecurity risks for your company. If you are receiving junk emails every day, your email information can be exposed for hackers to use. 

This is why you need WHOIS protection or private domain registration. When registering a domain name online, you will need to provide personal information. If malicious actors get access to this data, it could pose serious problems for you or your business. 

With WHOIS protection, you can hide your sensitive data from the public. This is necessary if you want to prevent your data from getting into the hands of cybercriminals.

Private domain registration protects you against unwanted attention from salespeople, telemarketers, spammers, and fraudsters. 

Some hackers scan the WHOIS database for contact information, looking for newly registered websites and accounts to bombard through spam emails. With domain privacy protection, you can prevent this from happening.

Namecheap has a free domain privacy service for business owners worried about their email systems. This offering hides your details from the public WHOIS database, which can help protect you from fraud and identity theft.

Protect your email systems against hackers

Email security is a crucial part of any company’s cyber security. Without the proper measures in place, your business may suffer the severe consequences of compromised accounts.

This problem outlines the importance of protecting your email from hackers today. Thus, take advantage of the email security tools available, so your business can be more equipped to recognize malicious emails and defend against them.