What Is Email Security?

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Email security is the practice of defending email communications from malicious threats and preventing data loss. It requires a combination of technology and end-user awareness training to effectively detect and block harmful emails.

Why is email security important?

Organizations need email security to defend against cybersecurity threats that disrupt business operations, steal funds, and exfiltrate sensitive information. Email is the primary target for attackers to launch campaigns, accounting for 91% of all cyber attacks, making strong email threat defense essential to an organization’s overall security strategy.

Top email attack types

Cybercriminals use many different tactics to hack email, and some methods can cause considerable damage to an organization’s data and/or reputation. The top most frequent email attack types for organizational risk include spear phishing, business email compromise, and spam.

Phishing

A broad, indiscriminate email attack where criminals send generic emails to large numbers of people and trick them into sharing sensitive information. Often, criminals pose as legitimate sources. Emails typically contain malicious links or attachments designed to steal data or infect systems. Phishing is a form of credential harvesting.

Spear phishing:  As the name suggests, it is a targeted attack aimed at specific individuals or organizations.  Malicious actors disguise their emails to appear as if they are from a trusted organization. Common tactics include embedding malicious hyperlinks to fake websites or attaching harmful files. When clicked or opened, the malware installs on the user’s device.

How to block spear phishing: Email security solutions detect and block these types of attacks by verifying the authenticity of a sender’s domain address and reputation, inspecting URLs, QR codes, and attachments prior to the email reaching a user’s mailbox.

Business Email Compromise (BEC)

A form of social engineering where attackers impersonate trusted employees, executives, vendors or partners. Criminals spoof or hack a legitimate user’s email account and use it to send urgent emails requesting wire transfers, sensitive documents, or payment for fake invoices.

How to block BEC: To block BEC attacks, email security solutions can implement  industry standard sender authentication protocols, behavior detection for unusual email patterns, and content analysis that identifies social engineering indicators.

Spoofing: A deceptive tactic where attackers alter the sender's address in an email header to mimic a trusted source. The aim is to trick recipients into believing the email is genuine and lead them to disclose sensitive information, click on harmful links, or download infected files. Spoofing is a common form of phishing and BEC attacks.

Spam

Also known as junk email, refers to unsolicited messages sent in bulk to a large number of email addresses typically promoting products, services or scams. Spam can also include malware distribution and schemes to trick users into giving up sensitive information or money.

How to block spam: Email security solutions employ  filters that inspect the sender’s reputation and analyze email content for known indicators of compromise, automatically flagging suspicious email as spam.

What are the top benefits of email security

Email security provides essential benefits that enhance business protection, efficiency, and compliance.

Brand Protection: Safeguard an organization’s brand reputation by preventing phishing attacks that can impersonate the organization and tarnish its image.

Business Continuity: Ensures the reliable and uninterrupted flow of email communication by filtering out spam and blocking malicious emails, it reduces the risk of IT system disruption and damage to sensitive data.

Increased Employee Productivity: Effective email security reduces the amount of spam and phishing emails that reach employees' inboxes, leading to improved productivity as employees spend less time dealing with unwanted or dangerous messages.

Maintain Compliance: Securely send and receive sensitive information while preventing unauthorized access to meet data protection regulations.

How is email used by attackers to launch ransomware attacks

Email is commonly used to deliver ransomware attacks. Phishing-based ransomware attacks are highly effective because they exploit human vulnerability and curiosity.

In a ransomware phishing attack, the hackers  send fraudulent emails to potential victims, enticing them to open malicious attachments or click on malicious links. When an unsuspecting recipient engages with the phishing content, the ransomware payload is deployed onto their system or the organization’s servers. The payload encrypts files and renders these resources inaccessible until a ransom is paid to the attacker leading to data loss and potential financial loss. .

What to look for in an email security solution

An effective email security solution should incorporate multi-layered advanced threat detection and prevention features to protect against a range of attack types, integrate with data loss prevention solutions, and include security awareness training. Here are some common aspects to keep in mind when selecting an email security solution:

  • Real-time URL & Link Scanning: Analyze URLs and links within emails to detect malicious websites and malware. This includes checking links at the time-of-click, plus when the email is received
  • Attachment Scanning: Inspect email attachments for malware and ransomware by analyzing attachments in a secure sandbox environment.
  • BEC Protection: Use anomaly detection to identify and block suspicious requests that don’t match typical communication patterns or requests of end users. For example , unusual payment requests and large wire transfers.
  • Spam Filtering: Automatically detect and filter unsolicited emails by analyzing content, sender reputation, and known spam signatures.
  • Data Loss Prevention: Prevent data loss by automatically inspecting content of outbound emails to detect sensitive data such as financial information, personal data, or trade secrets that might be sent out accidentally or maliciously.
  • Web-based Security Awareness Training: Educate users on the potential risks associated with email and covers how to recognize suspicious email through learning content and testing.

Email security best practices

Implementing strong email security practices is vital to protecting your organization from threats. Here are key strategies to enhance email security:

Email Security Policy: Develop a clear email security policy to guide employees on safe email usage. Include the following key protocols:

  • Sender Policy Framework (SPF): Verifies that incoming emails are sent from authorized mail servers. It prevents email spoofing by allowing the recipient's email server to check if an incoming email from a domain is being sent from an IP address approved by the domain's administrators.
  • DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM): Adds a digital signature to the email header using public-key cryptography to ensure the email hasn’t been altered during transit. Additionally, it verifies that the email was sent from the owner of the sending domain.
  • Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC): Building on SPF and DKIM, DMARC instructs email servers on how to handle emails that fail authentication (e.g., reject or quarantine). It also provides reports on spoofed emails, helping organizations prevent phishing attacks and domain misuse.

Strong Passwords: Require employees to use complex, unique passwords for email accounts. Passwords should include a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols to make them harder to crack, protecting against unauthorized access.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Requires users to provide two or more verification factors, such as a password and a temporary code sent to a mobile device. This adds an additional layer of security, reducing the risk of compromised accounts even if a password is stolen.

Regular Software Updates: To keep  email clients, operating systems, and antivirus programs up to date ensures that any newly discovered vulnerabilities are patched. Cybercriminals often exploit outdated software, so updates help prevent these security gaps from being leveraged in attacks.

Trellix’s approach to email security

Trellix Email Security leverages a powerful combination of advanced technologies and a deep understanding of the threat landscape to provide comprehensive protection against a wide range of email-borne attacks. Here's what sets Trellix apart:

  • We Catch What Others Miss: Trellix consistently detects new malware families missed by leading competitors every quarter. This proactive approach ensures you're protected against the latest threats.
  • We Go Beyond Email: Unlike many email-only solutions, Trellix benefits from the intelligence gathered across 35 million endpoints and 3.3 TB of network traffic processed every second. This comprehensive view allows for more accurate threat detection and faster response.
  • We Secure a Complete Work Environment: Extends protection to collaboration platforms, with solutions for Microsoft Office 365 and enterprise applications creating a secure work environment across all communication channels.
  • We Disrupt Sophisticated Threats: Trellix Email Security offers full threat detection efficacy, disrupting even the most sophisticated attacks. It provides contextual insights to prioritize and expedite response, ensuring you stay ahead of the curve.
  • We Have Unmatched Uptime: Trellix Email Security boasts a consistent 99.99% uptime, ensuring your critical communications remain uninterrupted.

Trellix email security solutions

Trellix offers a suite of products designed to address the evolving email security landscape:

Trellix's approach to email security goes beyond traditional solutions, offering a comprehensive and proactive defense against evolving threats. Through advanced technologies, a deep understanding of the threat landscape, and a commitment to continuous innovation, Trellix empowers organizations to secure their email communications and collaborate with confidence.

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