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How to stop security threats early

An always-on, cloud-based email security solution is critical in today’s complex cybersecurity environment. Every business needs comprehensive protection, including a cloud-based email security solution that reduces the complexity of protecting companies from malware, spam and data leakage.

John Mc Loughlin.

Multi-vector attacks, phishing, BEC (business email compromise), insider threats and brand impersonation require a pervasive security strategy. It involves a combination of proactive defence to stop threats even before they’re deployed, blocking threats from email and the web and remediating internal incidents to return to business as usual as quickly as possible.

Flexible and granular controls will help administrators protect against inbound threats, including phishing, spear-phishing and denial of service attacks and prevent sensitive and secure content from leaving the company.

Company-wide security policies are managed from a single interface and can be applied with immediate effect, enabling a faster response to rapidly evolving situations. This can easily be done via self-serve via Outlook, a native Mac app, browser and mobile apps, for actions including quarantine management and blocked senders, helping improve their productivity and reduce the burden on IT.

Businesses require a unique approach to email security, one that can provide a zero drag pass-through secure email gateway service as a foundation to build a tailored protection suite for the company. One can also use an advanced mail transfer agent (MTA) that acts as an email bridgehead in the cloud, stopping known and emerging email-borne threats before they reach the network.

Improving one’s cyber resilience takes place seamlessly by extending coverage to further enhance security and control. Using the visibility derived from Targeted Threat Protection, Data Leak Prevention, email encryption, content controls, monitoring and even Large File Send tools, businesses can ensure a better user experience that is secure by nature.

Blocking ransomware

Ransomware continues to rise and isn’t going away. Companies protect their systems and data with a multitude of security tools designed to block ransomware, but siloed tools can mean slower incident response times, incomplete risk assessments and challenges managing the tools.

By combining the power of one’s security information and event management (SIEM) with email security and threat remediation, it’s easy to stay ahead of bad actors. Block ransomware and improve security awareness across the company by utilising email security, threat remediation and awareness training within your security ecosystem.

Stop business email compromise

The biggest challenge is that users are moving quickly to get their work done and are often undertrained to spot suspicious messages, making them highly susceptible to clicking on a malicious link in their email. Threat actors take advantage of this by leveraging sophisticated threats to get users to hand over their credentials, wire money, or share sensitive data, putting that user and the company at risk.

The solution is to stay ahead of bad actors and prevent business email compromise with the power of an integrated security ecosystem. It is impossible to manage what one cannot see and when businesses deploy a practical and well-managed cyber resilience programme, they gain this visibility. Visibility provides the capability to respond. When one has the capability to respond, the cyber risk and one’s attack surface is greatly reduced.

Ending supply chain impersonation

Most businesses protect their own perimeter from phishing attacks, but don’t protect against attacks within their supply chain. Threat actors exploit this trust to spread threats throughout the supply chain, either using the company or a trusted vendor as the middleman.

An integrated security ecosystem will help inform SIEM, SOAR or other security tools to make it easier to respond and remediate threats, whether they come from a compromised or impersonated trusted partner.

Increasingly sophisticated attackers are hoodwinking their targets by posing as trusted senders and brands, getting them to hand over login details, personal information and money. This puts the spoofed organisation at risk of brand and reputational damage, financial loss, stolen data and compliance fines.

There are solutions that help businesses proactively hunt for potential attacks, easily implement DMARC (domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance, an email authentication protocol designed to give email domain owners the ability to protect their domain from unauthorised use</sup>[1]</sup>) and quickly respond and remediate threats from your environment. Integrating a security ecosystem allows one to better protect the company, while also better understanding and improving the company’s risk posture.

For more information contact J2 Software, +27 11 794 1096, john@j2.co.za, www.j2.co.za

^[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMARC

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