Safeguard Email From Internal and External Threats

Safeguard Email From Internal and External Threats

Safeguard Email From Internal and External ThreatsSafeguard Email From Internal and External Threats

Email continues to be a major source of cyber-attacks, and security and risk officers need to be more aware of both outside attackers and internal threats.

Information Theft Via EmailInformation Theft Via Email

33% of the security and risk professionals surveyed have experienced information loss, theft or attack via email within the last two years.

The Breakout of AttacksThe Breakout of Attacks

Phishing attacks leading to malware infection or data loss: 44%,
Business email compromise or impersonation: 40%,
Insiders emailing sensitive data outside the company: 36%

Internal Threats in the Past Two YearsInternal Threats in the Past Two Years

Compromised accounts by insiders: 63%,
Careless misuse: 57%,
Malicious insider incidents: 41%,
No insider incidents: 1%

The Phishing ThreatThe Phishing Threat

Four out of 10 companies surveyed reported a phishing attack in the past two years.

Financial and Productivity LossesFinancial and Productivity Losses

75% of respondents said compromised accounts had a significant or moderate financial impact. 68% said they had a significant or moderate impact on productivity.

Levels of ConcernLevels of Concern

77% of respondents are concerned or very concerned about compromised accounts, 61% share the same level of concern for careless misuse, and 55% share the same level of concern about malicious insiders.

Monitoring the ProblemMonitoring the Problem

70% of respondents use network monitoring to monitor, block or respond to internal email threats; 66% use a secure email gateway; and 62% use data loss prevention tools.

Old Technologies Used for New Threats, Part 1Old Technologies Used for New Threats, Part 1

Anti-spam: 62%,
Anti-virus: 57%,
Anti-phishing: 52%,
Privacy controls: 48%,
Data loss prevention inspection: 45%

Old Technologies Used for New Threats, Part 11Old Technologies Used for New Threats, Part 11

Threat visibility and response: 44%,
Multi-factor authentication: 42%,
Automatic blocking malicious emails: 42%,
Sandboxing: 32%

New Tactics OverlookedNew Tactics Overlooked

Sandboxing, multifactor authentication and automatic blocking of malicious emails are critical to defend against sophisticated attacks, yet fewer respondents are using these security tools.

Karen A. Frenkel
Karen A. Frenkel
Karen A. Frenkel is a contributor to CIO Insight. She covers cybersecurity topics such as digital transformation, vulnerabilities, phishing, malware, and information governance.

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