Business Email Imposters
What Are They and How do You Deal with Them?
Businesses are constantly under attack by online scammers and opportunists. You may do every update, keep an eye on your system at all times, and install strong firewalls. But, if you click on one bad link or your password gets leaked from somewhere else, your entire system could be compromised, and you could become a victim of a security breach.
According to a recent statistic from the FBI, business email imposter scams cost about $2.35 billion from over 17,000 victims. Not to mention, the number of cases that go unreported.
Here is a brief introduction to these dangerous email scams and ways you can protect yourself from becoming a victim.
What are business email imposters?
Also known as email spoofing, business email imposters attempt to gain confidential data from unsuspecting users by sending them emails that look and feel real. A scammer creates an email that looks like the organization’s and asks for confidential information such passwords, bank accounts, or even requests to borrow money. These emails may be sent to your partners, employees, clients, and others, leading to loss of revenue, reputation, and future prospects.
These fake emails don’t contain the signature components of a typical phishing email and seem to be legitimate emails from within the organization. They are highly effective compared to other forms of attacks for these reasons
- They look like legitimate messages from within the company, with an appropriate email address and content
- They do not usually include any harmful links or malware
- They are not easily detected by spam filters because they are not sent in large quantities
How to protect yourself from business email imposters
There is good news though as there are ways to protect your business from email imposters.
Use an email authentication system
For starters, you need to use an effective email analysis tool to block any fake emails. One way to do that is by using an email authentication system that can verify whether an incoming email is actually from your company email server. If it’s not, the system can be set to flag this to the recipient, or even block the email entirely.
Keep your security systems up to date
Make sure that your security systems are always up to date with the latest updates and patches. Make sure to set it up for automatic updates and schedule routine checks to see if any parts of your software or hardware need to be updated.
Monitor your systems
Set up automatic monitoring systems so you can check your networks at all times and get instant alerts if there’s anything suspicious happening.
Training and awareness
As good as your defenses are, there is always the chance an imposter email could slip through the cracks and reach a receiver. The best way to prevent such cases is to train employees with ways to avoid email spoofing and educate them about the methods used by hackers to gain sensitive data. Regularly send out reminders to spot spurious emails, cybersecurity threats, and the need to strengthen passwords.
Ensure that your security policies are communicated clearly to your staff and that they’re followed correctly.
Security training should include the actions that must be taken when someone spots an imposter email.
- Report
Every hacking attempt, including email spoofing, should always be reported to a manager, who can then investigate any impact this has had. You can also forward suspected emails to reportphishing@apwg.org.
- Inform your customers and stakeholders
To help minimize the impact, you must inform your customers and stakeholders as soon as possible. You should also provide any necessary information on what to do if a customer has been responding to an imposter email.
- Learn and improve
Once you have dealt with a particular email imposter scam, ensure you archive your findings and learnings. This experience can be a valuable lesson to keep improving your security policies and use the information to further train your employees and frame stronger security frameworks.
There is no time for rest when there is a new threat popping up every day. You should be vigilant and aware of attacks such as business email imposter scams. These imposter emails are harder to detect and easy to fall for. Hence why it is so important to keep updating your security systems with the latest email authentication as well as set up automated monitoring and reporting. Most importantly, train your staff on the need for a strong password and email protection, they are your last line of defense.
mPoweredIT – Ensuring You are Cyber Secure
The best defense against a hack is to have the latest security measures in place before the attack, and security professionals monitoring your system 24/7 watching for suspicious activity. mPowered IT is your go-to proactive partner in keeping IT systems secure and defended. We never leave things to chance or wait for a problem to arise – predicting and preparing for the threats of tomorrow will help ensure your valuable data is protected and your business continuity maintained. Contact us today at 678-389-6200 and see how we can help you.