How to prevent your email from being hacked

Hundreds of Greeks residing in European countries and the United States complained after receiving unsolicited emails from EU lawmaker Anna-Michelle Assimakopoulou, a member of Greece’s ruling party. – Copyright AFP SEBASTIEN BOZON

News has been reported that building firm Screwfix customers are being targeted by a new email phishing scam, showing that phishing scandals are on the rise.

With this in mind, the cybersecurity and compliance company Kiteworks has shared advice on how organisations can prevent workplace emails from being hacked and what to do if your workplace email is compromised, with Digital Journal.

Use secure email to send and receive sensitive content

Organizations can ensure the security of their employees’ emails by using a secure email service to send and receive content. Using a secure email service typically involves encrypting the email, including the email body and any attachments, in its journey from sender to recipient. Encryption lets you keep your email communications private and confidential and helps organisations comply with data privacy regulations like HIPAA and GDPR.  In addition, an email protection gateway (EPG) ensures both the sender and recipient use the same encryption standard, obviating the potential of exposed content prior to receipt. 

Regularly change your password 

Keeping email communications private ensures that PII, PHI, and IP does not fall into the wrong hands. Require employees to use strong, unique passwords for each workplace-related account and change them regularly.  Consider using a password manager to help manage complex passwords.

Choosing strong passwords and utilizing other forms of data access controls like multi-factor authentication (MFA) are also vital for safeguarding accounts and their sensitive content from cybercriminals. A six-character lowercase password can be cracked within minutes. Ensure password strength by creating long and complex passwords, with at least eight characters and special symbols.

Avoid clicking links in emails

Cybercriminals regularly use email as a way of tricking employees into sharing sensitive data like credentials to access email and bank accounts. This is known as “phishing.” An effective way to safeguard your organisation from phishing is to provide training to employees to identify what a typical phishing attack can look like. In addition, ensure that your employees are trained to report any suspicious emails or potential threats to the IT department or designated security team immediately.

For example, educate employees to exercise extreme caution when clicking on links in emails, even if they appear to come from trusted sources. Sometimes, these messages can appear to come from people within your organisation. Encourage employees to pay attention to the spelling and grammar used in emails and to hover over links to verify their destination before clicking.

Always verify the sender’s email address or social media profile to ensure it appears correctly. Be wary of subtle misspellings or variations that might indicate a fraudulent sender. If an employee questions the veracity of the sender’s identity, she or he should directly contact the sender through a known and trusted communication method to verify the legitimacy of the link.

Avoid using public Wi-Fi

Employees working during their commute or remotely from a public area will generally use a  public Wi-Fi connection. Using a public network for sensitive communications opens employees, their organisations, and their sensitive data to risks. Examples include MITM attacks, where hackers intercept your email traffic, and malware injection, which installs malicious software to access your email accounts, steal data, or damage your system. These and similar attacks can have severe consequences such as identity theft, financial loss, reputation damage, and legal liability if any confidential data is exposed.

As an alternative to using public Wi-Fi, offer employees access to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which establishes a secure, encrypted connection between their device and a remote server. Additionally, implement secure email protocols like SSL/TLS or STARTTLS to encrypt all messages and attachments.

Use antivirus software and encryption services

Antivirus software plays a crucial role in defending against email-based attacks by scanning incoming emails and attachments for viruses, and by providing real-time protection through a firewall that monitors network traffic. For more advanced forms of malware like advanced persistent threats (APTs), consider investing in advanced threat protection (ATP) solutions.

Ensure that your organisation has robust antivirus solutions in place and that they are regularly updated to incorporate the latest security patches and threat definitions. Regularly updating your antivirus software is essential for maintaining optimal protection against evolving threats.

Develop an incident response plan

To quickly address any security breaches like the ones we’ve discussed, organisations should develop and regularly update an incident response plan. An incident response plan is a predefined strategy that outlines the necessary steps to take when an organization detects a security breach.

It involves technical responses, communication guidelines, and a step-by-step recovery guide to eradicate the threat, communicate progress to stakeholders, and restore operations. Additionally, consider collaborating with national or regional fraud and cybersecurity services to report significant threats, which can aid in preventing potential cyberattacks and enhancing overall organisational security.