What Is Email Security?

Email security involves the strategic set of measures and techniques used to protect email-based communications, effectively preserving the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of email messages. As a critical safeguard for all types of organisations and professionals, email security prevents unauthorised access resulting in data breaches, detects and blocks malicious content, and ensures the privacy of sensitive information being transmitted.

As the most commonly leveraged communication channel among cyber-attackers and criminals, email is often exploited to spread malware and viruses, steal sensitive data, deploy ransomware and phishing attacks, and manipulate users into divulging confidential information. Email security solutions are designed to protect against the ever-evolving spectrum of email-borne attack vectors.

These attack methods underscore how critical robust cybersecurity measures are to protect against email account takeovers and subsequent attacks.

Email security is not just about protecting your inbox; it’s about securing your organisation from potential threats that could lead to significant data breaches or financial loss.

Email security is crucial to protecting business and personal assets from threats. Email is widely known as the number-one threat vector for cyber-attacks, and cyber criminals are constantly tweaking their tactics and techniques to exploit email vulnerabilities.

According to Verizon’s “Data Breach Investigations Report”, 94% of malware was delivered via email. And based on findings in a Cisco report, 96% of all phishing attacks originate from email.

Effective email security involves more than just using technologies to help detect threats and safeguard data and digital assets. It’s also about training personnel about email security awareness and understanding the sophisticated nature of today’s threats. Terranova’s “Phishing Benchmark Global Report” indicated that 67.5% of individuals who click on a phishing link would likely submit their credentials to the associated phishing website.

Implementing email security measures helps protect sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands and ensures your organisation remains compliant with data protection regulations like GDPR and HIPAA. A secure email system can also prevent costly downtime caused by malicious emails compromising your network infrastructure.

In the ever-evolving digital landscape where email communication remains fundamental to day-to-day operations, it’s difficult to overstate the importance of a robust email security strategy to keep your business running smoothly while safeguarding against potential threats.

Malicious intent lies at the core of all email attacks, regardless of their form or function. To help you stay informed and protected, here are some common types of email attacks:

• Phishing: Attackers impersonate a legitimate organisation to trick users into revealing sensitive information. These emails appear to come from trusted, recognisable sources like major retail brands, financial institutions, or online services, asking recipients to click on a link or download an attachment. The link typically leads to a fabricated website designed to steal private information or financial data.
• Social Engineering: This technique involves manipulating people into divulging confidential information or performing actions that compromise security. Social engineering attacks exploit human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities. Threat actors may pose as trustworthy individuals or authorities, using tactics such as pretexting, baiting, or tailgating to breach access to sensitive information or systems.
• Spear Phishing: A targeted version of phishing that focuses on specific individuals or organisations using personalised emails. Unlike generic phishing attempts, spear phishing emails are hyper-targeted to appear personalised and legitimate to the recipient, often using information from social media or other sources. This level of personalisation increases the likelihood of the recipient falling for the scam.
• Ransomware: Malicious software that encrypts files or systems until a ransom is paid. Ransomware attacks generally begin with an email containing a malicious link or file attachment. Once opened, the ransomware is downloaded and executed, encrypting the user’s files and demanding payment for the decryption key.
• Malware: Software designed to infiltrate and damage computer systems without the user’s consent. Email is a common attack vector for distributing malware, typically through attachments or links. Once installed, malware can carry out a host of malicious activities like stealing data, monitoring user activity, or providing remote access to the attacker.
• Email spoofing: With email spoofing attacks, bad actors forge email headers to make them look like the message is from a trusted source. Commonly used in business email compromise (BEC) attacks, spoofed emails deceive recipients into believing they are receiving a legitimate message from a known contact or organisation. This can lead to the recipient taking harmful actions, such as clicking on malicious links, downloading attachments, or disclosing sensitive information.
• Adversary-in-the-middle attack: An attacker intercepts communication between two parties and can read, modify, or inject messages. This can involve intercepting emails in transit, enabling attackers to alter the content or redirect the communication. Adversary-in-the-middle attacks are frequently used to steal sensitive information, manipulate transactions, or distribute malware.
• Data exfiltration: A sophisticated type of email attack where an attacker steals sensitive data from an organisation’s email system. Data exfiltration often involves accessing email accounts to extract confidential information, such as intellectual property, financial data, or personal information. These threats can be difficult to detect, as cyber-attackers often use discreet methods to avoid triggering security alerts.
• Denial of service: Attackers crash email servers by sending a high volume of emails that the servers are eventually unable to handle. This type of cyber-attack can severely disrupt email communications, resulting in operational delays and preventing legitimate emails from being delivered. Denial of service attacks can be part of a larger attack strategy to distract cybersecurity teams while executing other fraudulent activities.
• Account takeover: Attackers access an individual’s email account and use it to send spam or phishing emails or access sensitive data. Account takeovers often stem from other threats like phishing attacks, credential stuffing, or exploiting weak passwords. Once an attacker gains access to an email account, they can impersonate the account owner, escalate privileges, spread malware, or steal sensitive information.
• Identity theft: An attacker steals an individual’s personal information, such as their name, address, or social security number, and uses it for fraudulent purposes. Email is a popular vector for identity theft activities, with threat actors using phishing or social engineering tactics to deceive victims into divulging personal information. The stolen data can then be used to carry out financial fraud, open new accounts, or conduct other illegal activities.
• Brand impersonation: Attackers impersonate a well-known brand to deceive the recipient into divulging sensitive information. These emails often closely resemble the branding and language of reputable companies, making them appear legitimate. The goal is to trick recipients into submitting their login credentials, sharing financial information, or providing other sensitive data.

Understanding these types of attacks empowers you to recognise and avoid them, keeping your email domains and data safe. IT teams, cybersecurity professionals, and business leaders must stay vigilant and ahead of the curve to manage dynamic email threats.

As one of the most common forms of email threats, a phishing attack is a deceptive social engineering tactic that preys on human psychology and deception to steal the sensitive information of unsuspecting victims. Threat actors masquerade as trustworthy entities, often using convincing email templates or spoofed websites that resemble legitimate brands and organisations. The primary goal behind phishing attacks is to trick victims into divulging private information, like login credentials, credit card info, or social security numbers.

The deceitful nature of phishing lies in its ability to exploit our innate trust and urgency. Savvy cyber-attackers construct compelling narratives, ranging from account compromises that demand urgent attention to limited-time promotional offers. As phishing schemes evolve in complexity—leveraging current events, personalised details, or linked accounts—even tech-savvy individuals can be entrapped by such scams. In turn, the consequences of a successful phishing attack can be devastating, ranging from identity theft to substantial financial losses.

It’s critical to be cautious when receiving emails from unknown senders or ones that seem suspicious. Avoid clicking links or downloading attachments from these emails, and delete them immediately. Educating yourself and your employees on identifying malicious email messages is essential to enforce effective email and data security protocols.

Email attachments are a frequently exploited attack vector, posing a significant threat to both individual users and corporate security. Savvy threat actors will disguise attachments as legitimate documents, compressed folders, HTML files, or executable files. Once opened, these attachments can unleash a variety of malicious payloads, ranging from viruses, ransomware, spyware, or other forms of malware designed to exfiltrate sensitive data or compromise the victim’s computer system or network.

Malicious email attachments have been the crux of numerous high-profile cyber-attacks. For instance, the infamous WannaCry ransomware attack of 2017 spread through email attachments, encrypting files on infected systems and demanding ransom payments in Bitcoin. Similarly, the Emotet malware, which began as a banking Trojan, evolved to distribute other types of malware through infected email attachments, causing widespread damage and financial loss.

To prevent the email security risks associated with malicious attachments, it’s essential to employ advanced threat protection measures on both a device and network level. This often includes scanning all incoming emails for potentially dangerous attachments, using sandboxing techniques to safely open and analyse suspicious files, and remaining aware of the havoc that unsolicited attachments can wreak. Organisations can also benefit from alternative methods for file sharing, such as secure file upload portals or cloud-based links, to minimise reliance on email attachments and improve their overall security defences.

Email was originally designed to be as open and accessible as possible. It allows people in organisations to communicate internally and externally. The problem is that the security of email, on its own, is not reliable. Given its open format and the heightened sophistication of attacks, email is inherently not secure, requiring organisations to implement email security solutions, policies, and best practices to protect against email-derived attacks.

Attackers use email as a means to intercept sensitive communications, steal confidential information, and compromise systems—largely in an attempt to profit from targeted victims. Whether through spam campaigns, malware, phishing attacks, sophisticated targeted attacks, or business email compromise (BEC), attackers can take advantage of the lack of email security measures to carry out their desired actions.

Over the years, organisations have been increasing their level of email security, making it harder for attackers to access sensitive or confidential information. Yet, social engineering tactics and other human-centric attacks have upped the ante for more stringent and secure email systems.

The email security policies should be tailored to support an organisation’s need to protect sensitive data while making it readily available to users, affiliates, and business partners. They’re crucial for organisations required to follow compliance regulations, like GDPR, HIPAA, or SOX, or abide by security standards like PCI-DSS.

Safeguarding your organisation against email-based threats demands a comprehensive, proactive strategy. All things combined—be it technology, people, and policies—organisations can integrate the following cybersecurity best practices to prevent email attacks:

Multi-Layered Email Security Posture

Email security best practices emphasise building a robust, multi-layered security posture. This should include advanced email filtering solutions, real-time threat detection, and comprehensive reporting tools. Regularly update and assess these systems to stay ahead of evolving threats and ensure optimal protection against new attack vectors.

Strict Data Protection Measures

Implement systems and policies to prevent users from emailing sensitive data to external parties. To achieve this, employ solutions that prohibit users from emailing certain types of data to external parties. For instance, data loss prevention solutions can automatically detect and block emails containing sensitive or confidential information, such as financial data or personal identifiers, from being sent to third-party recipients.

Regular Employee Training

Build security awareness training into the onboarding and ongoing dynamics of employees. These training modules should help employees identify email spoofing and phishing scams, password creation best practices, and how to handle suspicious emails, particularly those containing attachments from unknown sources. Simulated exercises can help sharpen the awareness, skills, and areas needing improvement.

Email Encryption Protocols

End-to-end email encryption involves encrypting message content to protect potentially sensitive information from being read by anyone other than the intended recipients. Consider using Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) or S/MIME protocols for enhanced email security. Additionally, employ policies that require encryption for emails containing certain data types or when communicating with specific external parties.

Multifactor Authentication (MFA)

Implement MFA across all email accounts and related services to add an extra layer of security. This approach requires users to provide two or more verification factors to access their accounts, reducing the risk of unauthorised access even if passwords are compromised. Combine something the user knows (password) with something they have (smartphone app) or something they are (biometric data) for maximum security.

Advanced Threat Protection

Utilise proven email security solutions that offer features like sandboxing, URL rewriting, and attachment analysis. These threat protection technologies can detect and neutralise complex threats such as zero-day malware, ransomware, and advanced persistent threats (APTs) before they reach users’ inboxes. Invest in solutions that offer real-time threat intelligence and adaptive security measures to stay ahead of evolving attack techniques.

Update and Patch Systems

Maintain a rigorous schedule for updating and patching all email-related systems and software, including email servers, client applications, and security solutions. Promptly apply security patches to address known vulnerabilities and ensure all systems are running the latest, most secure versions. Automated patch management systems can help streamline this process and reduce the window of opportunity for attackers.

Organisations can check many of these boxes by working with leading cybersecurity partners like Proofpoint and leveraging their comprehensive email security and protection solutions.

Email security is a critical aspect of any organisation’s cybersecurity strategy. Proofpoint provides comprehensive email security tools to anticipate and protect against today’s most advanced and pervasive email threats. Proofpoint’s Threat Defense Platform offers a powerful solution to safeguard organisations from email-based attacks.

Threat Defense is an integrated platform that provides advanced capabilities, including email protection, targeted attack protection, and email isolation, all powered by cutting-edge machine-learning technology. With features designed to detect and block a wide range of threats—phishing, ransomware, and business email compromise—Proofpoint ensures that organisations can safeguard their sensitive information while maintaining operational integrity.

By delivering unparalleled visibility into the attack surface and automating threat response, Proofpoint empowers businesses to stay ahead of evolving cyber threats and enhance their overall security posture. To learn more about how to bolster your email security and protect against modern threats, contact Proofpoint.