Email security protects emails against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, and modification. This is vital because email is a standard method of communication.
Email is used frequently to transmit confidential information, such as financial or personal data. This information could be misused, resulting in financial loss and reputational damage.
Email can spread malware and as a tool for phishing attacks. This can further compromise security.
6 Email Security Technologies For Enterprise
Implementing email security measures can help protect people and organizations from these threats. It should also be a priority for any company’s information security plan.
#1. Email encryption
Email encryption is a way to secure email communications. It converts the message and contents into an encrypted code that the intended recipient can only read.
This is done to protect the confidentiality and information of the message from being accessed by unauthorized parties. Asymmetric encryption and symmetric encryption are the most common methods of email encryption.
Symmetric encryption employs a single shared key to decrypt and encrypts the message. Asymmetric encryption, also known as public key encryption, uses two keys, a public key, and a private key.
Email encryption tools can encrypt emails, including the subject, sender/recipient, and body. PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), S/MIME, Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions), and TLS (Transport Layer Security) are some of the most popular email encryption tools.
Related: What is Email Scanning? The Importance of Email Scanning
#2. Secure Email Gateway
Secure email gateways are security solutions that can be deployed as hardware or software appliances to protect the organization’s email system against external threats.
It serves as an “interface” between the company’s internal email system and the external network (e.g., the Internet).
A secure email gateway’s primary purpose is to filter outgoing and incoming email traffic for malware and spam. Phishing attempts and other cyber threats are also excluded.
This involves analyzing the contents of emails, including attachments, links, and addresses. Then, malicious messages can be identified and blocked.
Related: How To Leverage Pentesting Effectively? 4 Common Types of Pentesting
#3. Email Data Protection
An email data protection solution is a set of technologies and tools that protect email data from unauthorized access, misuse, disclosure, loss, and alteration.
It helps organizations comply with data privacy regulations and reduce the risk of data breaches.
Email data protection solutions may include:
- Data loss prevention (DLP) to prevent sensitive information from being sent outside the organization via email.
- Secure email communications at rest and transit with encryption
- Email archiving and electronic discovery to search and preserve email for compliance and legal purposes.
- Email content filtering is used to quarantine or block messages that contain sensitive data.
- Email authentication is used to protect against phishing and spoofing.
Related: 7 Methods to Protect your System from Hackers
#4. Integrated Cloud Email Security
Integrated Cloud Email Security is a type of security solution that combines multiple security technology and services to protect the email communications of an organization from cyber threats.
It is usually delivered as a cloud-based solution, which means that security software and infrastructure are hosted on the Internet and managed by third parties.
A variety of security features are included in an ICES solution, such as:
- Spam and malware filtering
- Protection against Phishing
- Email Archiving and eDiscovery
- Advanced threat protection
- Email continuity
It’s designed to provide all-in-one email security solutions that allow organizations to protect their email systems without using multiple-point solutions.
Related: How Remote Working Influences Safety incident reporting
#5. Anti-Spam, Anti-Phishing Solutions
Anti-phishing and anti-spam solutions are technologies that identify and block malicious or unwanted emails. There are many ways to filter unwanted email messages with anti-spam solutions.
- Both blocklists and allowlists contain email addresses or domains known as spammers or legitimate senders.
- Keyword filtering is a technique that uses a combination of keywords and phrases to identify spam-related emails and blocks them.
- Reputation-based filtering is a method that uses information such as IP addresses to determine the reputation and decide whether to allow or block an email.
Anti-phishing solutions can block email attempts to trick users into giving out sensitive information such as financial or login credentials. Some of these methods include:
- URL filtering blocks users from accessing known phishing sites or redirects them to a safer page.
- Email authentication uses technologies like DKIM, SPF, and DMARC to verify the identity of the sender of an e-mail.
- Heuristic-based detection uses pattern recognition and machine learning to detect the characteristics of phishing emails, such as certain words or phrases.
Related: Top Five Cybersecurity Trends
#6. Sanding
Security technology called sandboxing is used to detect and analyze malware. This involves running suspicious files or attachments within a controlled environment.
Sandboxing is a method of executing files or attachments in a controlled environment. This allows the solution to observe the behavior and determine if it is malicious.
Sandboxing solutions can improve email security by adding an extra layer of protection against malware or other malicious files that could be sent via email.
Related: Top 5 Cybersecurity Risks for Business
Conclusion
Email security is an essential component of any company’s overall security strategy. Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting email as a means of communicating with business customers.
They want to steal sensitive information and spread malware. Organizations must use various security technologies and best practices to protect themselves against these threats.
