4 Reasons Why Upping Your Email Security Game Right Now is Mission Critical

Phishing is a never-ending scourge on businesses, hitting an all-time high in Q1 2022 when researchers clocked more than 1 million attacks recorded in a single quarter for the first time. That’s 1 million potential cyberattacks that could be headed for businesses, making powerful email security the cornerstone of an effective defense. But less than half of organizations are using email security that gives their IT teams the tools that they need, like the ability to take important defensive actions such as blocking the delivery of email threats. Microsoft 365’s built-in security and the five leading Secure Emails Gateways (SEGs) miss up to 65% of targeted spear phishing messages, leaving the companies that rely on them in danger. Take a look at these four compelling reasons why it’s critical that organizations up their game against email-based threats immediately by upgrading to AI-driven email security.    

Excerpted in part from the eBook The State of Email Security 2022 DOWNLOAD IT>> 

1. Cybercrime-as-a-Service Makes Cyberattacks Easy and Cheap for the Bad Guys 

The booming cybercrime-as-a-service economy offers cybercriminals a bounty of free or cheap resources on the dark web. Bad actors can quickly mount phishing campaigns or just hire other hackers to do it for them while they sit back and reap the rewards. As detailed by Microsoft, phishing kits sell for as little as $25 and spear-phishing-for-hire can cost just $100 per successful account takeover 

Ransomware kits are also available, and they’re cheap, going for as little as $66 upfront. That low barrier to entry makes it a breeze for a few enterprising cybercriminals to quickly cobble together a ransomware operation. An estimated 65% of the ransomware data leak sites noted in 2021 were run by “new” ransomware groups. Of course, ransomware attacks can also be subcontracted easily. The Ransomware-as-a-Service market offers groups easy access to an array of specialists like malware developers, Initial Access Brokers (IABs) and other shady characters that can help get a ransomware operation off the ground fast. 

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2. Zero-day Exploits and Phishing Attacks are Increasing by Leaps and Bounds 

A zero-day attack is defined as a previously unknown vulnerability that a hacker can exploit to gain access to harm an organization. Google estimates 68% of phishing attacks can be classified as zero-day attacks, 2021 was a record-breaking year for zero-day attacks of all kinds, with twice as many recorded as there were in 2020. Experts spot new zero-day attacks all the time, making it critical for IT teams to keep up with patching maintenance. Google recently released a fix for its fourth Chrome zero-day vulnerability discovered in the wild in 2022.  

Zero-day email attacks are notoriously difficult for common email security tools, like built-in security in common office suites or a secure email gateway (SEG), to detect and block. The reality is that most conventional security solutions struggle with detecting a zero-day threat because they lack the intelligence to spot things like unexpected malware. But today’s AI-enabled tools are a smart option for companies that are worried about zero-day attacks. AI-driven solutions are much more likely to spot a zero-day threat than conventional security tools because of their constant collection and analysis of fresh threat intelligence. Since AI doesn’t rely on threat reports to detect vulnerabilities, AI-enabled tools can come up with clues fast, leading to early detection of threats to prevent the attack. 

See how ransomware rocks businesses in The Ransomware Road to Ruin. DOWNLOAD IT NOW>>

3. Email Security and Data Security Go Hand-in-Hand 

What is a company’s riskiest channel for data security? If you said email, you’re right. Nearly 60% of organizations in a recent Ponemon Institute study said that they have experienced data loss or exfiltration incidents caused by an employee data handling mistake using email in the last 12 months. But this risky channel is also one of the channels that employees make use of the most. Email volumes are soaring, and that’s expected to continue, which translates into continuing data security problems around email for businesses. IT professionals are well aware of the problem and the threat that email poses to their company’s data security. An estimated 65% of security professionals say email is the biggest source of their data security challenges.  

Phishing plays a major role in making email a risky proposition when it comes to data security. One reason for that is that new phishing threats can easily sneak past a SEG or conventional email security that’s provided with Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Cybercriminals are very good at evolving their techniques, which is very bad news for businesses that rely on old-fashioned email security. An estimated 90% of undetected phishing attacks are discovered in an environment that uses a secure email gateway (SEG), and only 17% of standard email security tools recognize new malware. 

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4. Understaffed IT Teams Are Drowning in Alerts and Problems 

Over 70% of IT managers in a staffing survey said that they couldn’t find the personnel they needed in 2021, resulting in chronically understaffed security teams. That has a huge security impact, including making email security more complex. Fewer hands on deck means fewer eyes available to review suspicious messages. However, the pace of new threats isn’t slowing down. Making the tech skills crunch worse for IT managers, security teams are constantly being inundated with junk alerts, especially email security warnings. The number of possible email security breaches per year that organizations face has doubled since 2019, putting a huge strain on IT teams. A security analyst can spend as much as 25% of their time chasing false positives. That adds up to an estimated 300 hours per week of precious (and expensive) tech time eaten up by wading through false positives.   

Unfortunately, one in four organizations experience up to 30 security incidents involving employee email use every month, and each one has to be investigated and dealt with. That takes time and energy. That’s a drain on IT staffers who never get a break from email security woes. In a new study from Osterman Research, 89% of IT professionals said their organizations had experienced one or more successful email security breaches in the last 12 months. Researchers noted that the biggest source of email security breaches that they analyzed was Microsoft 365 credential compromise, the culprit in 45% of email breaches. That figure has ballooned by 49% in the last three years, not a promising prospect for reducing the pressure on IT teams in the future.   

See how to avoid cybercriminal sharks in Phishing 101. DOWNLOAD IT>>

Choose Smarter, Stronger Email Security for an Immediate Defensive Boost

In a recent survey, less than half of organizations ranked their current email security solutions as effective. That’s a sure path to disaster. However, companies that choose Graphus can feel confident that they’re protected from major sources of trouble by AI-enabled, automated email security that catches sophisticated phishing threats. They can also feel confident that they’re getting a great deal – Graphus is only about half of the cost of the competition.  

These benefits make making the switch to Graphus an easy choice.  

• Forget old-fashioned safe sender lists. Graphus analyzes the content of messages using more than 50 points of comparison to suss out fakes fast.   
• Cloud-native security harnesses machine learning to inform AI using a patented algorithm.  
• Put 3 layers of protection between employees and dangerous email messages.  
• Don’t waste time on fussy configurations or adding threat reports. AI does that for you, getting everything up and running with just a few clicks and minimal maintenance.     
• Click here to watch a video demo of Graphus now. 

If you’re already using BullPhish ID for security and compliance awareness training and phishing simulations, you’ll love our latest integration Advanced Phishing Simulations (Drop-A-Phish). This feature leverages the power of integration with Graphus to eliminate the need for domain whitelisting and ensure 100% campaign deliverability to end users when running phishing simulations. LEARN MORE>>