“I hope this email finds you well” is a sentence that we see a lot. Sometimes even a few times in a single day! Whatever the content may be, no one would argue that email, as a communications tool, is crucial. We all use it for purposes like work discussions, staying in touch with people we care about, and even sending confidential information.

However, the convenience it brings also comes with risks that shouldn't be ignored by anyone. Whether you are an individual or representing a company, you must know the email threat meaning and all that it brings.

Let's explore email threats and why email security is crucial for protecting against security issues that may arise in emails.

Email Threat Meaning

In essence, an email threat denotes any danger or harmful action aimed at email systems to jeopardize sensitive data, disrupt operations, or obtain unauthorized entry. Such risks frequently exploit weaknesses by leveraging trust through social engineering techniques or exploiting technical flaws in email platforms.

Businesses frequently face email dangers in the form of attempts to steal assets, cause an email data breach, or perpetrate business email compromise (BEC) schemes Being able to identify what are threats and grasp their consequences can assist companies in fortifying their defenses.

What Is Email Security?

Email security involves the methods and tools used to create a virtual bodyguard that protects email accounts and systems from unauthorized access, security threats like data breaches, and cyber threats such as phishing attacks or malicious code injections. All of this scrutiny pays off, though, as it protects both the sender and the receiver from getting into unfortunate (and potentially costly) situations.

Ensuring the security of emails is crucial as those convenient electronic letters frequently contain sensitive data like personal details and financial records for businesses and individuals alike that cybercriminals seek to exploit for fraudulent activities or disrupting operations. If proper email security measures are not in place, this can lead to severe financial losses and harm to reputation.

Common Email Security Issues

Understanding email security issues is essential to combat them effectively. Here are some of the most prevalent problems:

• Phishing Attacks: Fraudulent emails that trick users into revealing sensitive information like passwords, credit card details, or login credentials.
• Business Email Compromise (BEC): Attackers impersonate executives or vendors to trick employees into transferring funds or sharing proprietary information.
• Malicious Attachments and Links: Files or links containing malicious code can infect systems, steal data, or disrupt operations.
• Weak Passwords and Multiple Accounts: Using easy-to-guess passwords or reusing them across multiple accounts can make email systems vulnerable.
• Lack of Encryption: Unencrypted emails are susceptible to interception, exposing their contents to attackers.
• Insufficient Security Awareness: Employees unfamiliar with email security threats are more likely to fall victim to phishing, spear phishing, or other scams.

Email Security Threats You Should Know

While the types of email attacks are vast, certain email threats are particularly prominent:

• Phishing and Spear Phishing: Phishing involves sending deceptive emails to steal sensitive information. Spear phishing, a more targeted form, personalizes the attack to increase its effectiveness. These emails often include a malicious link or a request for login credentials. As you may notice, this attack sounds very similar to "fishing," and that's because of the nature of the attack itself—deceptive emails act as bait, and an unsecured user is the catch!
• Malware: Malware attacks use infected attachments or embedded links to deploy viruses, ransomware, or spyware. Once executed, these can lead to data theft, exposure of sensitive information, disruption of services, and even—the worst—destruction of data. Needless to say, with all information wiped and no backups at hand, you might as well wave the business goodbye.
• Business Email Compromise (BEC): BEC scams target businesses by impersonating trusted entities, like executives or suppliers. Attackers often request urgent wire transfers or the sharing of sensitive information.
• Social Engineering Techniques: Attackers manipulate human behavior to gain unauthorized access. For example, they might pretend to be IT personnel to extract login credentials or email headers.
• Spam and Scams: Spam emails sent by bots often carry fraudulent offers, fake charities, or counterfeit products.

Types of Email Attacks

When addressing types of email attacks, it’s essential to differentiate their methods and objectives. Here are the key types of email security attacks:

Credential Harvesting

Credential harvesting refers to the process by which attackers collect usernames, passwords, and other login details from unsuspecting users. This type of attack is commonly executed through well-crafted and tricky emails that look like they arrived from an actually legitimate source, such as various companies that you interact with daily, your beloved bank, or even your colleague from some other (or same, who knows) department.

In probably around 99% of cases, these emails include links that direct users to almost perfect clones of legit login pages. Once the victim enters their email, username, and, most importantly for the bad guy on the other side, their password, the attacker captures the information, enabling unauthorized access to accounts. Credential harvesting is a significant email threat because it provides attackers with direct access to personal or organizational systems, which can then be exploited for further attacks or data theft.

The consequences of credential harvesting are far-reaching, particularly in corporate environments where a single compromised account can lead to a cascade of email data breach risks. For instance, attackers could use stolen credentials to infiltrate company systems, access proprietary information, or execute business email compromise (BEC) schemes.

Ransomware

Ransomware is a particularly nasty type of software designed to encrypt victims' files or systems, rendering them inaccessible until a ransom is paid, hence the name "ransomware." These kidnappers of users' sensitive data often deliver ransomware through deceptive emails containing infected attachments that look completely innocent or embedded links. For example, an email may appear to be from a company's IT guy and encourage the recipient to download an important update to some app, acting as if work would not be possible if the said file is not installed. Once the file is opened, the ransomware activates, and everything falls apart: all critical data on the device is encrypted and impossible to use, while a message stays on the screen demanding payment—typically in cryptocurrency—to unlock the files. The threat is compounded by the attacker’s promise, or lack thereof, to delete or publish sensitive data if the ransom is not met.

The implications of ransomware are severe for both individuals and organizations. In a corporate setting, a ransomware attack can lead to downtime, operational paralysis, and significant financial losses. Moreover, there is no guarantee that paying the ransom will restore access to the encrypted files or prevent further extortion attempts.

Man-in-the-Middle Attacks

Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks occur when the bad guy virtually stands in the middle between two parties without them knowing. With it, this literal man in the middle can intercept and manipulate all communications between the two. In the context of email, this might involve intercepting emails as they are transmitted between the sender and the recipient. If such a crafty interception occurs, the attacker can change the content of the email as they wish: inject malicious links or steal sensitive information such as login credentials, financial data, or proprietary business details.

With all this freedom, the possibilities are almost endless. The intercepted email can be altered in such a way that it would be impossible to tell it was tampered with, and the attacker could, for example, attach an infected document that you expected to receive, only to trick you into ruining your device. It comes as no surprise that this type of attack is especially dangerous because it is often invisible to the victim, making it difficult to detect until damage has already been done.

The consequences of MitM attacks can be beyond colossal, particularly in environments where important business communications in day-to-day life contain sensitive data. For example, attackers might alter the payment details in an invoice email to siphon funds to their accounts or compromise confidential discussions, stealing industry secrets and other valuables that make the company run.

Account Takeover

Account takeover (ATO) occurs when an attacker gains full, unauthorized access to an email account that holds some importance. This spooky event is often achieved by using stolen credentials obtained through credential harvesting, phishing, or data breaches. Once the credentials are in their hands and the login is successful, the attacker can exploit the account for whatever malicious purposes that they wish, such as sending fraudulent emails, masquerading as the person whose account was taken over, stealing sensitive information, or launching further attacks. In a corporate environment, an ATO attack can be especially dangerous, as it allows the attacker to impersonate the victim and exploit their trusted relationships for business email compromise (BEC) schemes, especially when the account that was taken over belongs to someone who holds a higher-up position and calls the most important shots. For instance, they may instruct colleagues to transfer funds or share proprietary data, all while appearing completely legitimate. Such emails are sent frequently, and those colleagues will likely not raise any eyebrows and just proceed with the unfortunate transfer straight to the bad guy's pocket.

The effects of account takeover attacks are far-reaching and can include financial losses, reputational damage, and even regulatory penalties if an email data breach occurs. Attackers may also use the compromised account to target multiple accounts by resetting passwords for linked services or platforms.

Best Security Measures

Implementing robust email security measures is crucial for mitigating risks and protecting sensitive data. Here are the top strategies:

Secure Email Gateway

A secure email gateway (SEG) is like a reinforced gate in the thick walls of your virtual castle. Such a gateway protects against email security threats by being pretty much like an actual wall between an organization’s email system and external threats. This virtual gate does various careful screenings and filters incoming and outgoing emails to identify and block annoying spam, nasty malicious links, and attachments containing destructive malicious code. By analyzing email content, headers, and metadata, an SEG can detect and quarantine emails that exhibit suspicious behavior, such as phishing attempts or spoofing attacks. This proactive filtering ensures that potentially harmful emails never reach the user’s inbox, significantly reducing the risk of compromise.

A robust SEG is essential for businesses of all sizes, as it strengthens corporate security and ensures compliance with regulatory requirements related to email data breach risks. Integrating an SEG with other email security solutions provides a layered approach, offering comprehensive protection against evolving threats in the digital landscape.

Email Encryption

Email encryption is as critical as locking your doors when you go on holiday. This security measure encodes all messages and makes them readable only to the person they were sent to (in other words, the intended recipient). All of this happens as the email is traveling, thus preventing any interceptions that could lead to exposure of sensitive data. Without encryption, your virtual letters are vulnerable to, you’ve guessed it –man-in-the-middle-attacks. As encrypted email is unreadable to anyone besides the intended recipient, even a successful interception would be useless.

On a grander scale, email encryption also helps businesses comply with privacy regulations, such as GDPR or HIPAA, both of which require robust protection of sensitive information. Besides, it gives a plus for business communications as it ensures the confidentiality of emails. However, it won’t hurt to elevate your email safety further by combining encryption with other email security measures, such as secure email gateways outlined above.

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Two-Factor Authentication (or 2FA for short) is a powerful email security measure that makes it way harder for email threat actors to access your accounts. Traditionally, accounts are protected just by a password. 2FA adds an extra layer to it as it requires the user to verify their identity using a second factor, such as a temporary code on their phone, hardware token, or other means that are separate from the main device. This means that even if a password is compromised via credential harvesting, data breach, or other measures, the account will remain safe since the email threat actor won’t have easy access to the second device needed for identification. By incorporating 2FA, you can massively reduce the chances of unauthorized access, in turn mitigating the destructive risks of account takeover and whatever other email threat (or few) the threat actor comes up with.

Employee Training

One of the easier email security measures that work great is employee training. Cybercriminals tend to poke at human vulnerabilities via sophisticated social engineering techniques that make spear phishing attacks successful. An employee with the right knowledge can learn to recognize something is wrong, thus avoiding clicking on malicious links and exposing sensitive information. A good practice is simulated phishing exercises, as it can help staff understand which of the following email types should be reported to IT security.

Role of Proxies in Email Safety

Proxies play a significant role in enhancing email safety by acting as intermediaries between users and email servers. They provide an additional layer of protection, ensuring secure communication and preventing unauthorized access.

The key benefits of using proxies to combat any email threat are:

• Anonymity: Hides users’ real IP addresses, reducing the likelihood of targeted attacks.
• Filtering Malicious Content: Blocks malicious links and suspicious traffic before it reaches the recipient.
• Preventing Data Leakage: Ensures that sensitive information doesn’t leave the organization unintentionally.

By incorporating proxies into their infrastructure, organizations can significantly enhance their overall email security posture.

All in all, the internet is not a scary place if you have an understanding of email threat meaning, recognize common threats, and implement the right security measures. With this knowledge, you can safeguard your business communications and protect sensitive data with peace of mind. Ready to go? Proxies just might be a great starting point!