As a security-conscious business owner, you’ve probably already invested in the basics to secure your various IT systems. However, if you’ve not paid special attention to your small business email security, then your business might well be at high risk.
According to IBM, Verizon and others, phishing is the most significant threat to your business emails. In recent years, there have also been high-profile cases involving inherent security vulnerabilities in popular email server software, like Microsoft Exchange. As one of your most important lines of communication with the outside world, you simply can’t afford to have your email compromised.
So how do you stop that from happening? Secure email for small business solutions play a significant role in your overall security approach and reducing your business risk profile. However, it can also result in many other practical benefits for your business.
What exactly are Email Security threats?
There is a misconception that the only people that still fall for phishing scams are the elderly or technologically unsavvy. But that’s not true. Phishing attempts are becoming increasingly sophisticated and challenging to detect. So a secure email service for small business is vital.
In fact, according to IBM, phishing is still the most common Cyber Attack vector in the business world. Playing a role in 14% of all cases.
Phishing is commonly used to trick employees into divulging sensitive information. This can take a number of forms including – for example – company-specific IP, account details or information that can be used to blackmail your business or the people in it. It can also be used to infect one of your critical IT systems with malware. For example, it’s common to hide malware, or malware downloaders, in innocuous-looking Excel or Word files.
Phishing attempts are often used to try and gain access to your systems in order to launch further attacks. From there, the attackers show a high degree of persistence. Lying in wait until they can snatch valuable information or cause the most damage. Phishing can also be used as a springboard to carry out a business data breach. To give you an idea of how damaging that can be, IBM found that data breach costs rose from $3.86 billion to $4.24 globally in 2021. And for UK SMEs, the cost of dealing with a data breach is estimated at around £115,000 to £310,800 depending on the severity of the breach itself.
In addition, there is always the threat of more sophisticated attacks that can compromise your entire email server. This can take the form of spam, DDoS, brute-force and other forms of attack. Hackers can also route traffic for your mail inboxes to their servers. Or to successfully impersonate your official email to send out fake or scam emails that appear entirely authentic to your customers.
On top of potentially costing you business, these types of attacks can cause tremendous damage to your company’s reputation. So-called Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks cost businesses millions each year.
So, ensuring secure email for small business matters. And your business should be focused on avoiding the negative impact of a Cyberattack – at all costs.
How Can Small Businesses Protect Themselves against Ransomware and Phishing Attacks?
There are a number of ways that you can do this – as part of a wider approach to your IT security.
One of the most important ways to protect your business from phishing attacks is by creating awareness of the problem amongst your staff. In a lot of ways, your employees are the first and last line of defence for your business. And they need to be trained to:
- understand the importance of personal security hygiene and how to use email securely
- detect possible phishing attempts or suspicious email behaviour
- know which remedial steps to take should an attack happen
However, doing this type of training on your own inside your business can be a significant challenge. Phishing strategies change all the time. Attackers continuously employ increasingly sophisticated technologies, social engineering tactics and spoofing measures to fool new potential victims.
So, any training and education needs to be frequently updated and tested using real-world scenarios. This is where working with a security-minded Managed IT service provider can help you improve the readiness of your employees without the process of eating up significant resources. In return for an affordable monthly fee.
However, staff training is only one part of highly effective small business email security. And you shouldn’t solely rely on the alertness of your staff, leaving them to fend for themselves.
A high-quality secure email solution for small business can significantly reduce your overall security risk profile. Today’s most advanced software and monitoring tools use AI and machine learning to proactively automate filtering, detecting and responding to threats.
Selecting a solution like this can be a challenge unless you have specific experience in this area. But again, this is the sort of thing that an experienced team within a specialist IT provider can help you with. And once you have the solution in place they can also help with:
- Creating, communicating and enforcing secure email policies
- Preventing virus outbreaks early by quarantining systems
- Enforcing strong password policies and regularly updating them
- Having a safe, redundant email backup system in place
- Implementing safe login measures, such as two-factor authentication, SSO, etc.
All measures that reduce security risks around email and that are designed to better protect your business.
Which Email Service Should you use – and how can the Cloud Help?
Considering how vital email security is, and how multi-faceted the threats are, developing a solution yourself is generally not feasible.
For most SMEs, managed, threat-ready and multilayered cloud email solutions for small business are the best option. Today, many of these solutions are Cloud-based, which is what we’d recommend to your small or medium-sized business. They combine the security and effectiveness of conventional security software with the cloud’s flexibility, scalability and convenience.
With this software, you’ll be shielded from the day-to-day maintenance and operation of an email security system.
Cloud email solutions for small businesses have the following benefits:
- Quick deployment and updates: Email is an essential line of communication for your business. So, you want minimal downtime while setting up and maintaining it. Like other Cloud services, it’s usually available on-demand with hands-off installation and updates.
- Cost-effective: Cloud-based services can usually be offered at wholesale prices. With no secondary expenses due to ongoing maintenance and local resources, it’s generally much more affordable than a custom solution.
- Scalability and flexibility: Cloud providers generally operate enormous resources, far beyond what any SME can consume. Usually, resources can be scaled on-demand at the click of a button.
- Advanced email security features: Security is often a key selling point for Cloud providers. They have the expertise and experience to offer advanced security features to all customers. This includes built-in compliance, advanced threat protection and defence, and cutting-edge AI and machine learning technologies.
Conclusion
No major change in the technology of your company comes without its difficulties. Whether it’s overhauling your email system or adopting cloud systems, you want to minimize disruptions and maximize productivity.
However, when it comes to security, you want to ensure that you’ve done your due diligence. The slightest misstep can have enormous financial or reputational repercussions. Or even spell the end of your business.
That’s why it’s crucial to work with a trusted expert that has experience helping businesses develop a robust security posture. A Managed IT Support expert can also help you find a secure email service for small businesses and the awareness and train employees to deal with threats. Not to mention, ensure that your security systems and countermeasures are up-to-date and capable of responding to the very latest threats
If we can help you review your options around email security. Or even assist with a wider Cyber Security Audit of your IT systems then do not hesitate to contact us.
We will be happy to have an initial no-obligation discussion around your specific needs.
