Malicious Threats to E-mail Security That You Didn’t Know

April 2, 2018

by DUALLAYER IT

Email is one of the top threats to the cybersecurity of an organization. Through the use of email, many different types of malware programs can enter into an organization’s system compromising everything. It is, therefore, necessary to know these new tactics that attackers use while exchanging emails.

Malicious Threats to E-mail Security That You Didn’t Know

Malware

Attackers worldwide take advantage of mailing systems to send malicious software to the target. Once it has entered into the system, the software gives the sender a chance to access sensitive information such as user passwords. They can then change user privileges, monitor their activities, and access the private data. If the target organization was the bank, then it is clear that the attack will do as many transactions as possible.

Spam and Phishing

Spam is an unsolicited commercial unwanted commercial email messages sent in bulk. Such messages lower the productivity by causing disruption, use excessive IT resources, and can also be used as a media for malware transmission. Phishing, on the other hand, refers to the use of deceptive computer-based means to lure an individual into responding to the emails and in the process disclosing sensitive information. If you have a compromised email system, then you better take the necessary precautions to prevent an attack.

Social Engineering

Hackers nowadays tend to keep off from hacking but instead resort to using email to get the information they need to get into an organization’s system. They get users to respond to them disclosing the details they want. An instance of email engineering is the spoofing which is the use of a masked program which runs as a well-known program and fooling the user to enter their user details. The program then submits them to the attacker who has now found a gate pass.

Entities bearing malicious Intent

Malicious entities can be successfully used in gaining an unauthorized access to other resources in an organization’s network through a successful attack on the mail server. With a compromised mail server, the attacker can gain access to lots of places including the user passwords which can also be used to get to other hosts on the same network.

Man-in-the-Middle attacks

This is a form of cyberattack where the cybercriminal intercepts the information sent by the user through the mail before reaching to the client. When that happens, it gives the attackers full control over the message where they can read it, editor even does transactions without the awareness of the victim. This kind of an attack is not new but it has evolved with the invention of new tools that hackers use to achieve the same.

Many email security threats are not mentioned in this article. Whichever the threat is, it is important to take precautionary measures not to be a victim. Here are quick email safety tips to keep you out of the mess.

Always use quality email filters to avoid coming into contact with a cyber-threat
Keep an eye on the unsolicited emails and neither click a link in them nor download any attachment from them.
Use simple logic and don’t fall loosely into a conversation or a deal that you did not initiate yourself.
Use different passwords across multiple accounts as hackers are likely to try one password they source from email in various accounts.