The threat landscape is changing daily. New variations of cyberattacks are being launched every day, and the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have given hackers a new-found energy for devising phishing scams. Cybercriminals are constantly evolving tactics to try to stay one step ahead of IT professionals and prey on companies with newly remote workforces. In short, the hooks on phishing emails are getting sharper.
When those hooks take hold, the damage can be great. Phishing-based email is estimated to be responsible for more than $10.2 billion in fraud over the last five years, according to the FBI.1 Business Email Compromise (BEC) and phishing attacks show no signs of slowing down. The amount of losses reported in 2019 alone was $1.7 billion.1
Most Attacks Start With A Phishing Email
Most cyberattacks start with email. As many as 85% of all attachments emailed daily are harmful.2 It takes just one of your employees opening the wrong thing to make your entire organization vulnerable. If you think your employees know better than to fall for a phishing email scam, think again. Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report shows that 30% of phishing emails get opened by users.3 One single click puts you at risk.
Combating Email Phishing
There are two main ways companies are approaching these security threats: phishing protection software and phishing simulation software.
Phishing Protection Software
In the past year, more than three-quarters of businesses reported they had been the victim of a phishing scam.2 If you check your spam filters, you’ll likely see some attempts every day. These filters catch only the most obvious phishing email. The ones that get through your filters are the ones you must worry about. That’s why phishing email protection software is crucial for any size business.
Phishing protection software, also known as anti-phishing software, identifies potential cyber threats when emails arrive. Depending on the threat level, it may block the email, quarantine it, or deliver it with warning messages.
Phishing Simulation Software
Phishing simulation software allows you to simulate phishing campaigns and test your employees. It can be used effectively in assessing and training staff members. When you simulate phishing campaigns with your team members, you can focus their attention on the dangers associated with email phishing and how to spot it.
Training can help, but it won’t stop these cyberattacks or solve the problem. Even employees trained to spot phishing schemes fall victim. Cybercriminals are constantly trying new tactics to trick employees into giving up login credentials or launching malware. It’s difficult to train on the unknown.
It’s a battle for IT professionals to stay on top of training. Most organizations are hiring new employees regularly. Training every incoming employee and providing regular training for existing staff can be a challenge.
The Real Phishing Email Solution
Organizations have found that a combination of a robust email phishing software solution and employee training can help mitigate your risks. However, training alone won’t prevent phishing emails from getting through. Only an advanced email phishing software protection can shut down phishing emails before they get to your employees.
Robust Phishing Email Protection
When it comes to phishing email protection, INKY is relentless in recognizing and stopping email security threats.
Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, and G Suite all have built-in email security protection. Despite their best efforts, however, they lack the ability to deal with sophisticated cyberthreats that have become increasingly personal, targeted, and lethal. These email platforms use lists of known threat actors. When an email comes from someone on the list, they quarantine the email or flag it for your review. The cybercriminals know this. It’s easy to change an email address or URLs to stay ahead of these lists. Threat actors are always developing new tactics that circumvent these built-in email security products.
INKY integrates seamlessly and adds a more aggressive layer of protection. It doesn’t just rely on blacklists, but it is effective at catching – and anticipating – what the cybercriminals will do next. It catches even zero-day attacks others miss.
Unlike other email security software, INKY’s proprietary computer vision can “see” things others can’t. For example, it can detect the most minute differences in company logos down to the pixel level. When it finds a fraud, it shuts it down.
INKY tests outgoing links to make sure they go to legitimate places. If it finds a questionable site or link, it will let you know before you click. INKY displays bold banner warning messages in the body of the email. These won’t be missed, even on mobile devices. These warning messages protect users from making mistakes while providing education and training.
Even with the best email phishing simulation software and training, it will not prevent potentially malicious emails from getting into your employees’ inbox. You need to stop them before they arrive.
Don’t let email phishing attacks slip through the cracks in your existing email security software.
Get a demo of the INKY email security platform today.
----------------------
INKY® is the emerging hero in the war against phishing. An award-winning cloud-based email security solution, INKY® prevents the most complex phishing threats from disrupting or even immobilizing your company’s day-to-day business operations. Using computer vision, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, INKY® is the smartest investment you can make in the security of your organization. INKY® is a proud winner of the NYCx Cybersecurity Moonshot Challenge and finalist in the 2020 RSAC Innovation Sandbox Competition. Learn more about INKY® or request an online demonstration today.
1Source: https://pdf.ic3.gov/2019_IC3Report.pdf
2Source: https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com/cyber-security-statistics-for-2019/
3Source: https://enterprise.verizon.com/resources/reports/DBIR_2018_Report_execsummary.pdf