It’s no secret that hackers are constantly searching for new ways to breach into corporate systems and access sensitive data. But as the cyber threat landscape continually evolves, keeping information private and secure without impeding productivity is becoming increasingly challenging for businesses of all sizes.
Whether you manage an intranet or a more general email account, a company’s email system is often the weak link in terms of security. Most businesses’ internal networks are not nearly as secure as they could be.
With plenty of threats out there, it’s crucial that your company implements measures to keep your data safe from outside forces. Even if you work in a smaller firm without a dedicated IT department, there are several things you can do to keep your emails secure from external entities with malicious intentions. Keep reading to learn more about securing your corporate email.
1. Strong User Authentication
User authentication is the most basic form of protection. This can come in the form of a username and password combination or biometric verification. Ideally, you’ll want to ensure all your employees are required to use two-factor authentication (2FA) when logging into your company email, if possible.
2FA adds an extra layer of security to your login process by requiring users to verify their identity with something they have, like a unique code they receive via text, along with something they know, like their password. This means hackers can’t simply log into the account with only the password when 2FA is enabled. And if someone tries to log in from an unrecognised location, many email providers will send an automatic warning that the login might be fraudulent. As such, 2FA is a must if you’re managing corporate email accounts.
2. Encryption
If you’re using cloud storage for your email, you may want to make sure that data is encrypted as it travels from your devices to the cloud. For example, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon all offer encryption for email stored on their platforms. If you’re hosting your email internally, you should ensure that your email security solution in Singapore has built-in encryption capabilities. This might sound overkill for smaller companies, but the truth is that even smaller organisations can be targeted by hackers. By encrypting your emails, you can protect sensitive details such as credit card numbers.
3. Computer-Based Detection
As more employees work remotely, ensuring your email platform has robust computer-based detection capabilities is essential. There are several types of computer-based threat detection that help protect against viruses and malware. For example, your AI email security platform should be able to block malicious URLs, prevent executable files from being sent, and protect your network against spam. If your system doesn’t have these protections built in, you run the risk of malware infection even if you’re using a secure email provider.
4. Use Domain Authentication such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
Let’s take a closer look at each approach. Why do we require all three? This is because each prevents phishing and spam in a different way. Email is authenticated using a combination of standard authentication and encryption tools, such as public and private key signatures and special DNS records.
In addition, we need three email protocols due to how the internet evolved. During the early days of the internet, email was mostly used by university researchers, where everyone knew your name and trusted each other. It’s long past those days. To:, From:, and Bcc: addresses were deliberately separated from the message content. It was a feature (and when you think about how Bcc: works, you realise why it was important), but it caused IT administrators new pains.
We also require three email protocols because of how the internet has developed. Email was mostly utilised in the early years of the internet by academic scholars because everyone knew and trusted one another. Those times are far behind us. The message text was purposefully kept separate from the To:, From:, and Bcc: addresses. It was a feature, which makes sense when you consider how Bcc: functions, but it gave IT administrators new problems.
Implementing all three protocols ensures that messages cannot be easily falsified and that they never reach your users’ inboxes.
5. Employee Education
Employees can be trained to recognise social engineering, phishing, and other types of email-based attacks. The importance of email security awareness training lies in the fact that most cybersecurity attacks involve some level of human error. It is possible to provide employees with effective email security awareness training that will help them recognise the signs of an attack and avoid actions or behaviours that could put the organisation or themselves at risk.
Conclusion
There are several security risks that come with using email, but there are also ways to mitigate these dangers. Strong user authentication, encryption, computer-based detection, domain authentication protocols, and cloud-based protection can all help protect against threats like ransomware, phishing emails, and other malicious activity.
SEMNet is a recognised IT infrastructure and cybersecurity consulting firm that works with experienced engineers to improve the performance of your IT system, decrease risks, and increase efficiency. We do this by thoroughly reviewing your current system, assessing any existing vulnerabilities, and providing a solution with the highest level of security and performance.
We offer a range of services, including cloud security and infrastructure management, as well as vulnerability checks and AI Email Security in Singapore. When you engage our services, you can be assured that your IT infrastructure is in capable hands. Contact us today for a quote or to learn more about our company and services.