Why Is Email Security So Important?
Email security is a vital, but often ignored, part of your cyber security strategy. But securing your email isn’t just about the tech stuff…
With the rise of computers as an integral part of business operations, cyber attacks have become a huge problem, especially for small businesses. And companies are losing millions of dollars cleaning up after cyber attacks.
And most of these attacks are coming by way of email.
Phishing emails, in particular, are frighteningly common and yet many businesses fail to teach their employees what to look out for to identify them.
One wrong click by an employee can leave your business completely exposed. Usually, someone accidentally opens a spam email, clicks on a suspicious link, or opens an “infected” attachment. That’s all it takes!
And, unfortunately, there are no tools that prevent your employees from opening the wrong email. So what can you do? You have to deal with the two main vulnerabilities:
- The email itself
- Your users
Protecting Against Email Attacks
Here are 4 steps you can take to keep your email safe and your business protected:
1. Use a Good Antivirus
Using a good antivirus can make all the difference when it comes to your company’s security posture. Many antivirus programs include real-time protection against phishing (email) attacks. They may even specifically protect against malware, such as ransomware.
You should have antivirus installed and configured on all of your devices – not just your desktop PCs. You should have antivirus on your Laptops, Mac devices, Android phones, and any other vulnerable device.
2. Use Two-Factor Authentication
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) means that you have to provide two types of authentication. Often 2FA is in the form of a pin delivered via SMS text messaging. It can also be in the form of a USB dongle.
How it works is: when anyone tries to log in to your email from a new place, 2FA will send a code to your phone to verify that it’s actually you – or prompt you to input your USB dongle. You enter that code, or insert the dongle, and then you log in.
It’s that simple, and yet this one measure has a huge impact on your security.
3. Keep Your Devices Up-to-Date
Everyone’s guilty of sometimes ignoring the update notifications on their devices. However, doing so habitually introduces a huge security risk into your environment.
Make a plan to keep your devices up-to-date: both the operating system (i.e. Windows, macOS, Android, etc) as well as the individual programs and applications that you use. Many of the updates are Security updates.
They are released specifically to help keep your device secure. Ignoring those updates leaves you and your company vulnerable to cyber attacks.
4. Employee Cyber Security Training
No matter what security measures you put in place, one stray click from an untrained employee can render it all useless.
The bottom line is: your users need to be trained on proper email security.
They need to be trained and tested on a consistent, ongoing basis. One-time training can help somewhat but you need to avoid any lapses.
Training your users on your own can be difficult. It requires planning, systems, automation, reporting, and, most importantly: time. But, putting those resources into training your employees on phishing emails and how to recognize them can be the difference between suffering a major attack and going ahead with business as usual.
Handling all these things yourself- along with your regular responsibilities at work – can be difficult.
However, at 911 PC Help we have a specail email security training program. It helps your users improve over time by training them on a consistent, ongoing basis. It also tests them frequently and provides you with the results. You can see what users are “getting it” and can provide special support for any users who are having difficulties.
Call us at 415-800-1130 for click here for a free consultation so that we can protect your business from phishing together!