The use of emails has always been increasing ever since its inception in the 1960s. Business communication, circulation of academic information, conveying personal information – almost everything is passed on between individuals or organizations via emails mainly for either or all of the following reasons:
The latest study from the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has shocked the world, with consumers exposing social media as the next top target of fraud. In 2021, according to the most recent Data Spotlight report for consumer protection, scam artists cheated approximately 100,000 people via social media. A rise of more than twofold over the previous year.
SSRF attacks have gained momentum in recent years. They have been used as a break-in technique in significant attacks on organizations like Capital One and Microsoft. Because of the growing threat of SSRF attacks, the OWASP Top 10 document on web application security has listed them as a separate vulnerability category for the first time in its 2021 list (A10:2021).
Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF) attacks can pose a significant threat for organizations and unsuspecting users. Therefore, it is crucial to stay informed about these attacks and take necessary security measures.
Sending and receiving emails have been essential in communication between and within organizations over the past few decades. Rapid digitalization of businesses and startups entering the digital information web made emails one of the commonly used media to share information. Naturally, email security is a significant concern for any organization with a high email user base. The sensitive information shared between organizations and within them increases the critical data getting intercepted and compromised. And to manage this problem, organizations adopt security strategies like encryption and digital signatures in emails. Securing emails is vital, but pairing it with the Best Browser Security Software adds extra protection, ensuring safer web access and fewer vulnerabilities. Below is an examination of what makes conventional email security vulnerable and prone to breaches and solutions to mitigate the threats.
The education sector is often a lucrative and easy target for malicious actors as they provide various access points and vast volumes of data. Moreover, the student body often keeps changing, making it difficult to train them in email security. A successful cyber-attack can damage the brand name and cause a substantial financial impact. Hence, maintaining a robust email security posture is essential to provide adequate protection for students and staff from email threats and attacks. This article looks at the various email security threats the educational sector faces and steps to prevent them.
One more year is over, and there is no respite from cybercrimes across the globe yet. It is a never-ending battle, and 2022 opens up yet another chapter in the cybersecurity space. Ransomware attacks continued to cause havoc for businesses in 2021, along with the infamous attacks, such as the SolarWinds hack and the Log4j vulnerability. This article examines the cybersecurity and email security trends to watch out for in 2022. (more…)
Cybersecurity threats and data breaches will be among the most significant predicaments enterprises face in 2022. Below is an examination of the most critical data breaches of 2021 and a few areas where you should concentrate your efforts to defend yourself from such risks as you move into the new year. (more…)
Microsoft Exchange Server primarily helps organizations send, receive, and store organizational email messages. However, there are many more functions that Microsoft Exchange Server provides to its users. It is deployed on the Windows Server Operating System and is primarily used for business purposes.
A few of the leading collaborative features are calendaring and integrating with other Microsoft applications. Microsoft Exchange Server is widely used by organizations around the world, which makes it highly vulnerable to malicious actors, who are always on the lookout to exploit one vulnerability or another. For instance, earlier this year, Chinese threat actors were reported to exploit vulnerabilities of the Exchange Server to attack organizations throughout the United States that were using Exchange Server for their email operations or other activities.
Email services will not be outdated anytime soon as most businesses still prefer it to be their primary means of communication. However, as 4.6 billion people will be using emails by 2025, there is an alarming rise in email impersonation attacks and email security risks. In a single case in Colombia, $8 million was compromised by malicious actors in a recent example of an impersonation attack.
Designing a successful email marketing campaign takes time and strategy. While it is imperative to partner with an established email marketing vendor, you cannot possibly overlook email security. As an enterprise head, you might be focusing on intensifying your digital footprint by working on your email list and leads. Amidst all these responsibilities, it’s easy to ignore online threats from malicious actors. While most established email marketing vendors offer anti-phishing services and ransomware protection, you need to guard yourself against other modes of attacks too. To craft a better experience on your digital journey, you need to know the best practices while selecting your email marketing vendor.
Malicious actors reportedly attacked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) mail system Saturday (November 13, 2021) morning, ostensibly as a DHS warning of a cyberattack. The FBI confirmed that attackers compromised its mail servers and sent out bogus messages. Despite spending millions to ensure cybersecurity, the FBI’s network has been compromised. The attackers could have used the emails for spear phishing and ransomware attacks but instead outlined how recipients avoid cybercrimes. They used a compromised server to send spam, warning that someone could steal their data.
Cyber threats of various kinds are rising, but as businesses and individuals become aware of the lurking dangers, cybercriminals are coming up with increasingly sophisticated methods. In a recent cyber attack, threat actors accessed customer support systems and stole data, including names and emails of 2 million Robinhood customers. After the attack on Robinhood Markets was discovered, the platform admitted that the attacker stole the client data by tricking a customer support employee.
With API security, you’re not just securing your data but the strength of the infrastructure as well. When hackers exploit the vulnerabilities in the API and gain access to the entire network, they engage in privilege escalation and employ different kinds of attacks and compromise the most sensitive data. This could lead to huge revenue losses and long-term damage to the firm’s reputation, all of which has a better probability of being avoided with due efforts made in API security.
Email marketing sounds a little outdated, doesn’t it? In fact, email marketing is bigger than ever.
Since the impact of Covid-19, there’s been an ecommerce boom, and email is something consumers are comfortable with and respond to in huge numbers.
Email masking is a technique that alters an email address to protect the actual email from misuse. Email masking can help protect an organization’s email address and that of thousands of its customers. A masked email address retains its original format and cannot be traced back to the actual address.
Autodiscover, a Microsoft Exchange protocol, now has a vulnerability that miscreants can exploit, according to a security firm that discovered the loophole as part of their email security research efforts. If anyone uses the vulnerability, they can access sensitive credentials from the Exchange-connected client, in a threat akin to spear phishing. These sensitive credentials are Windows domain credentials that can authenticate Exchange servers. And malicious actors using the vulnerability for their nefarious activities can be a nightmare to any organization.
While website security tools secure the data that passes from server to browser, email security tools prevent unauthorized access to email accounts, content, and communications. In general, the safety of email servers tends to be limited to problems with messaging and the application of security measures that have more to do with anti-virus and anti-spam protection. If a business is dependent solely on a platform such as Gmail or MS Outlook, it does not need to focus on protecting email servers. However, when one decides to implement and maintain a dedicated email server, one must employ spam protection, phishing protection, ransomware protection, and other advanced safeguards against email threats.
Email is one of the most used forms of communication. There are around 4 billion email users worldwide, and the number of emails sent and received per day is estimated to increase to about 376 billion in 2025 (from about 306 billion in 2020). With over 4.5 billion users expected to use email in 2025, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that emails have fundamentally transformed how digital communication is carried out, whether for business, marketing, or some other purpose. However, it is also the same channel that is responsible for a majority of phishing attempts globally. Email security and phishing protection are major focal points for IT Security services and global tech giants alike.
The reports of the past five years show that around 80% of all cyber-attacks are impersonating social engineering attacks. Today, most email attacks are malware-less to avoid setting off malware scanning alarms. The primary aim of adversaries is to gain the target’s trust by impersonating some legit entity or user. As the emails do not contain any malicious content, they can easily bypass the email security defenses.
The situation has even worsened globally during pandemic times as most of the phishing attacks are coronavirus-themed. Malicious actors take advantage of the employees working from home with less secure connections and endpoint devices.
In the simplest of words, a misdirected email is an email sent to the wrong address. The 2020 Outbound Email Security Report published by Egress says that 79% of organizations have listed misdirected emails as one of the topmost email security risks. Although it is a common issue that might seem harmless initially, there are various risks that a misdirected email can pose to the organization. From data breaches to loss of reputation, a simple mistake can go a long way to ruin an organization’s brand value.
Today, the healthcare industry faces one of the most daunting tasks of protecting human life in an insecure cyber environment. Healthcare organizations worldwide deal with massive amounts of medical records and other PHI (Public Health Information) and PII (Personally Identifiable Information). Such data is communicated internally and with other parties such as hospitals, medical centers, administrations, and insurance providers.