Email Security Trends 2021

Email Security Trends 2021
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations started to expand via digital channels, and more people shifted to remote work. It brings new security risks and productivity challenges for organizations and propagates threats.
According to Deloitte, 47% of individuals fall for a phishing scam while working at home. Between Feb to May 2020, more than half a million people were globally affected by breaches in which personal data is stolen and sold on the dark web.
Cybercriminals are taking advantage of stressed & distracted employee email & web browsing behavior to perform the attacks. As the situation still did not call-off, cyber attackers are continuing to take advantage and threaten email security. Having said let us see the top 5 trends in email security to take care of in 2021 to help secure your employees & business against cyberattacks.

Phishing attacks evolved over the time

Spreading malware to steal credentials and phishing scams has become very common and sophisticated. Increased remote working made email users more prone as they are constantly looking for communication ways to get updates on the pandemic situation. 350% increase in phishing attacks amid COVID-19, reports PCMag Asia.

Mirroring the high-level executives or CEO

Attackers trick the organization’s stakeholders and employees in the name of superiors and higher officials to get confidential information. It varies from targeting the Human Resources department for personal information to the Finance department for money transfer. It is called BEC – Business Email Compromise and this kind of spear-phishing is predominantly high in remote working scenarios and is growing as pandemic exists.

Awareness training on cybersecurity

Increase the training sessions for cybersecurity as the pandemic and cybercrimes continue to evolve. Currently, organizations conduct training quarterly or half-yearly which will not be enough to tackle the groundbreaking attacks. Cyberattacks continue to rise, organization’s stakeholders, employees, and even online learners should be reoriented on regular basis to ensure that they can identify phishing emails from business emails and are aware of any advanced threats in the sphere.

Expanding cybersecurity budgets

As the COVID-19 and cyberthreats still exist very much and are a growing issue as we progress, organizations started to readjust and defined their IT spending for business continuity. Highly regulated industries like the financial sectors and healthcare are expected to increase their technology spending with cybersecurity as a key in budget.

Remote workers are the prey

Employees working remotely are under tremendous pressure which makes them less reactive to spam emails. Attackers utilize this change in employee behavior circumstances for cyberattacks. Organizations should support the remote workforce by providing timely training to protect themselves against cyber threats and expose confidential information. Organizations need to make sure that the workforce uses Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) and defensive passwords for their email.
Understanding these email security trends and enforcing strict policies & strategies is a start. Organizations should be well-prepared with an advanced email security system to detect and avoid the latest cyber threats.
Have questions about email security solutions or other cybersecurity approaches? Our experts will be happy to help you. Reach us at sales@sbainfo.com
Kanthanathan
Written by
Kanthanathan S
Kanthanathan is an experienced thought leader and technologist with over 20 years in the IT Industry, he is associated with SBA since its inception and is responsible for technology acquisitions and propelling the business transformation of SBA from a system integrator to a technology services firm.
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