9 Best Email Security Practices to Keep Your Business Safe in 2020
Do you know that 90percent of cyber-attacks happen through email? Yes, through email. Almost a 44percent of malware is injected into the computers through email spam and malware links and attachments.
Despite multiple warnings about spam emails and phishing attacks, businesses are falling victim to such malicious email attacks, and millions of dollars being lost every year.
In that case, email security and awareness about rising phishing tactics become important in the business environment as well a few steps should be taken to make cyber policy rigorous to avert such types of attacks.
However, in this article, we will discuss the best nine email security practices used by companies like mypaperwriter in the coming year 2020.
Hold employee Cyber Security awareness Program:
Cybersecurity awareness Program has become the need for the hour in today’s time. Let the employee be at any level; the company should focus on cybersecurity improvements. If you have a start-up business company or a fortune 100 company, you are still a target for cybercriminals.
Make sure you train all your employees on how to react to unknown emails, phishing emails, spam emails, etc. For example, if one of your employees receives a phishing email with an attachment, train them on how to react like:
Scenario 1: one way they will click the link and make the computer infected, which results in data compromise or cyber-attacks.
Scenario 2: They can also react by flagging the email as junk or spam just sparing a moment or inform to the company’s Security team and alert them. Experts will handle in the best way than a layperson.
It is the responsibility of the company security force to help the employees identify the malware and spam and report to the concern authorities to avoid any kind of loss.
Use strong passwords:
According to the Wombat Security report 2019, there is increased cyber-attacks since 2017 due to credential access compromise. Also, email security is at high risk when compared to other security threats.
A recent study from the Verizon data breach investigation report DBIR 2019 says that there is a 98 percent rise in attacks for email using the stolen credentials. So, it is necessary to have a strong password.
After all, you spend a considerable amount on company security goes waste without proper measures. Sometimes the basic things play a significant role. Remember to select a unique password and include special characters, upper case, lower case, and symbols.
Do not include the names of the company, or easy to guess hints as passwords. In the case of brute force attacks, hackers easily guess the passwords through password guess tools. It is safe to use more of characters and numerals than all letters, as it is difficult to guess, and you are on the safe side.
Invest in quality antivirus:
The first and foremost investment you should do as you start a company is to invest in the best antivirus software. Antivirus programs come with many features like email filters, spam filters, scanning the files, websites scanning, and many more.
These capabilities can fetch you good results against data breaches and cybercrimes as they help in identifying the malware and other infectious viruses that could harm the internal data. You need to set the antivirus program to your email proxy server to filter all the unwanted threats.
Therefore, there is nothing expensive as the company’s security, right? Start investing in a good antivirus plan immediately.
Use of SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security) Protocols:
From the technical aspect, both SSL certificates and TLS are very similar. Both function the same while sending emails, secures the emails between your computer and the SMTP service. Note that your SMTP should effectively encrypt emails through TLS. This happens between email and recipient mail servers.
However, the email delivery process requires the mail server’s favor to support SSL/ TLS. These protocols always encrypt emails technically whenever needed. If you are handling email on exchange server then, an SSL certificate for Exchange Server gives security to the client-server and to internal server network communication utilizing encryption with a 2048-bit SSL Certificate.
Exchange Server SSL Certificate can secure Exchange Web Services, Outlook Anywhere, Outlook Web App, ActiveSync.
Avoid using public Wi-Fi:
Using free Wi-Fi is fun, but not at the cost of your sensitive data. There will be some situations where you need to check emails or respond through emails, or maybe transactions, and so on. It is very comfortable to connect to free internet zones quickly, but not all are safe and may be vulnerable.
However, cyber experts strongly suggest avoiding public Wi-Fi as maximum as you can to protect the login credentials and private data. Whenever you use to make sure you observe HTTPS and then use it.
Two-tier authentication:
Using two-tier authentication adds an extra protection layer to the emails. It becomes difficult for a hacker to crack the passwords or log in credentials and emails. There is also software available that uses a cloud email provider instead of two-tier in immediate situations.
This is a useful and straightforward data loss, preventive measure tips. It gives a tough time for hackers who try to invade privacy.
Watch out for Phishing:
The best tips to stop Phishing attacks is to have a basic knowledge about what emails should be opened, or the links in the email are safe or not. Phishing is one of the easiest ways to target your network.
However, Phishing can be controlled to some extent. You can educate your employees about the risks of opening infected email links and the attachments the simple way to stop cybercriminals.
Install the best firewall:
Installing an effective firewall on your computer is the immediate step you can do to avoid any attack on your network. There are Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFs) that add an extra defensive layer against the malware, spam, junk, and virus. It filters all the documents, files, and emails and attachments thoroughly to avoid a system crash.
The best firewall should automatically detect, filter, tag, and block all the email spam that tries to penetrate your network.
Use a VPN:
Using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) will help you to a great extent to email security by encrypting all the emails. VPNs bears a variety of services. It establishes the authentication, controls, and routes the internal traffic that’s is difficult for hackers.
You can consult a network engineer or a cyber-security expert and have a VPN installed. You can find free services, but it is recommended to use a proper VPN and make most out of it.
Conclusion:
As discussed above, by following these best tips will reduce the email spams. Without following these necessary preventive steps, there is no point in following the strategies in the workplace without the employees’ understanding.