Email correspondences remain to be a leading digital communication tool that has withstood the test of time, multiple technological advancements, and innovations. This communication avenue has been around for over decades. But does every active user consider email safety? Do you think enough about how you can Improve Your Email Security?
The irony with email endurance is that despite being around for the longest time, many users are still oblivious of the need to have an email security tool kit.
Many of them do not know that through the decades, hackers have devised ways of compromising user safety using diversified online threats that are spread through email. Fortunately, with a few reliable security tools, you can improve your email security. In this article, we have listed the most common email attacks and 5 ways to overcome them.
5 common email security threats
An attacker may launch an attack on email for different motives. It might be to gain control over individuals and companies, to spread malicious infections, or to gain unauthorized access to confidential information. There are different attacks used to attain these motives and they include the following:
Phishing scams
This is an attack where cybercriminals send deceptive emails pretending to be from a source that the internet user trusts or knows.
Phishing emails contain links that redirect users to malicious websites where hackers and other cybercriminals steal user data and sensitive information or use this opportunity to install dry-by malware on your device.
To bait email users into clicking, many phishing scams promise users some kind of financial relief, jobs, or giveaways. To make them appear real and legit, cybercriminals may include logos and graphics in a false email.
Malicious attachment files
A single click on a malicious email attachment may bring your device or computer down. In the worst cases, it can compromise the entire network.
A person on your contact list may knowingly or unknowingly send emails with such attachments especially if they do not have the appropriate security tools on their end.
Email service security gaps
Your email service provider may have security loopholes that expose you to dire cyber risks emanating from data breaches, and other attacks on the system. These security gaps are mostly because of misconfigurations.
Cybercriminals are always preying on these vulnerabilities in a bid to infiltrate and launch an attack on the email service systems.
Email Spoofing
In this attack, criminals mask the origin of fake emails using headers. From the surface, the email appears to be from a legit sender.
Many times, email-spoofing attacks target the management of institutions and can be given a header such as ‘Message from CEO’. They may also be in the request of sensitive actions like the release of funds into a said account.
Keyloggers
This malware monitors your keystrokes to record sensitive user credentials such as passwords and credit card information.
Keyloggers then send this data to malicious servers often run by hackers and other cybercriminals. This data may then be used to compromise your online accounts. Keyloggers are mostly spread through phishing email attachments.
Other dangers can occur erroneously as a result of human weakness. This is when you mistakenly click on a malicious attachment or accidentally share sensitive information with an unintended recipient.
5 easy ways to improve your email security
You can use the following tips and security tools to ensure that the operations on your email the system remains safe and confidential.
Install antimalware on all your devices
Malware infections are not a joke. They can result in data loss, access denial through ransomware and DDoS attacks, and privacy loss among other dangers. Fortunately, installing anti-malware software is a good way to stay protected.
This software offers protection by automatically blocking malware penetration attempts either through emails or malicious links.
To keep the software at its efficacy, keep the antimalware up-to-date and schedule automatic scans.
Use anti-spam filters
Increasing spam filters to sweep out junk emails from your inbox can also help increase and improve your email security.
You can customize the spam filtering settings to feature your preferred options. In addition to this, adopt a personal security policy of ignoring spam messages or deleting them as soon as possible.
Use encrypted mail services
Subscribe to encrypted email services as opposed to the regular free ones like outlook. Best-encrypted email providers tend to be security-focused. They offer end-to-end encryption that helps individuals and businesses keep their email correspondences private.
Encrypted emails have a stronger defense against malicious attacks such as data breaches.
Some of the features to look for while choosing an encrypted email service include:
- End to end encryption – securing messages with end-to-end encryption helps keep the email messages safe from third-parties or any prying eyes.
- PGP encryption – pretty good privacy ensures that email communications remain safe and secure even over unsecured networks such as public Wi-Fi.
- Open source- open source projects promote transparency and clear scrutiny
- Two-factor authentication – 2FA comes in handy in preventing unauthorized access. hackers need to manage to crack your password by requiring additional verification.
- Server location – avoid email service providers who have agreements to share user data with the government authorities in their locations.
- Metadata handling – the service provider of choice should collect as minimal data as is possible to protect your privacy.
Install email scanning software
You can also protect yourself from email attachments that spread malware by installing an email scanning software. The best email scanners automatically scan all incoming emails thus preventing any harm from reaching your device or network.
That said, you still need to be careful because not all email scanners are equal. Some do not come with this feature. Others come with additional features that enable them to detect and eliminate malware and block spam messages as well.
Conclusion
In addition to the above tools, always be smart and careful while using email services. Do not make any dumb move no matter how lucrative the outcome promises to be. Secure your accounts with strong passwords and do not disclose these to anyone.
Email attacks can have destructive consequences for individuals and enterprises. Do not overlook the dangers just because you have been emailing ‘safely’ without any security measures in place. The unexpected can happen; better be safe than sorry.
