Is Your Email Safe and Secure?

Email is one of the most important forms of communication within any company. Employees exchange sensitive information everyday over email. This brings up several concerns in regards to security and the possibility of that sensitive information getting in to the wrong hands. The two major concerns are the transmission and storage of messages. Both of these are important when it comes to ensuring your emails are protected. A third concern is having a backup solution should your email system fail.

Spam Attacks

Have you ever had your inbox overwhelmed by spam? Most of us have. Spam email is responsible for almost all malicious email attacks. It is simple to add an attachment or insert a link redirecting you to a hazardous website. While we can’t control if someone on the inside clicks the link or downloads the file, we can put some security measures in place to help filter out this type of attack. This is where spam filters and firewalls can come into play. Checking every file that comes in as well as the attachments and links in emails can make a huge difference.

Viruses

Virus attachments on emails have been the cause of some of the world’s most vicious computer attacks. Often times the virus will install a Trojan which will then attack without warning. Another type of virus that invades your email is Key Loggers which transmit the information you type on your keyboard to an outside source. That program then passes your sensitive and private information over to the attacker. Most spam attacks are annoying productivity killers and the majority of them do not target one specific organization. The attacks are meant to mass distribute with the hopes that even just a few will work in their favor.

Phishing Attacks

Spam mostly consists of links and files that contain harmful material meant for your PC. Phishing is a new breed of attacks by hackers trying to break through your company’s security wall. Phishing is the act of trying to defraud someone by posing as a legitimate financial or retail organization. This is intended to capture personal financial information and other forms of information about your business. It’s important to be aware of what the phishing emails look like. These emails will take on the exact look and feel of a financial institution email but the links redirect you to the hacker’s website. When the end user tries to login, their personal information is now recorded by the hacker.

Filtering

Filters like Mediaimpact Professional Spam Filtering and antivirus applications like Mediaimpact’s Advanced Backup & Recovery can help you protect your company’s information. Spam emails are sent with the hopes of tricking the end user into opening them. There are over 100 billion spam messages sent every day. This makes the presence of antivirus software and anti-spam services necessary to protect important information from exposure by email.

The Bottom Line

Is your email safe and secure? Unless you proactively and consistently filter and backup your email the answer is no. As stated above, there are several methods for stopping spam. Educating your end user as well as using services that can help filter out some of the more hazardous emails is necessary. Attacks not only cost your company in resources, but also in lost time and productivity.