Thanks to email’s flexible nature and adaptation to the needs of today’s businesses, users can access their email wherever they are, on any device, at any time, however it also offers a real threat to your data security.

Every day, millions of emails are sent and received to and from companies, customers, and suppliers.  Email is sent and received almost instantaneously, whether the recipient is a few doors down or thousands of miles away.  With a significant percentage of UK workforces now working from home, the increased threat of cyber-attack via email is higher than ever.  An email attack is referred to as a Phishing attack.

Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information or data, such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, or other sensitive details by impersonating oneself as a trustworthy entity in a digital communication.  Typically carried out by email spoofing, instant messaging, and text messaging, phishing often directs users to enter personal information at a fake website which matches the look and feel of the legitimate site.  As of 2020, phishing is by far the most common attack performed by cyber-criminals, with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre recording over twice as many incidents of phishing than any other type of computer crime. Source Wikipedia

During 2020, the Mimecast Threat Centre detected a 64% rise in threat volume compared to 2019.  This uptick in cyber fraud has taken a toll and exacerbated many of the data security threats that companies already faced.  For example, since the pandemic onset, the Mimecast Threat Centre found that employees worldwide are clicking on malicious URLs embedded in emails three times as often as they had before.

Mimecast is a cybersecurity provider that helps thousands of organisations worldwide make email safer, restore trust and bolster cyber resilience. Mimecast’s expanded cloud suite enables organisations to implement a comprehensive cyber resilience strategy. From email and web security, archive, and data protection, to awareness training, uptime assurance and more, Mimecast helps organisations stand firm in the face of cyberattacks, human error and technical failure.

Email security should be a top priority for UK companies. The first line of defence should be an Email Security Gateway, a platform that guards your emails against hackers, spam and viruses. Here at BLUE Profile, we work in close partnership with Mimecast Email Security Services.

In addition to implementing policies and procedures that promote email security, companies should also encourage their employees to follow best practices. Employee education should never be overlooked in our fight to combat email security.

For further information on email and data security solutions please contact us here. You can also download latest report on The State of Email Security from Mimecast on our downloads page here.