"89% of IT Leaders voiced frustrations with their secure email gateway (SEG)"
~ Independent survey commissioned by Egress to 500 IT leaders from Mid-Enterprise size businesses
𑗏 "Requires a high level of admin to maintain"
𑗏 "Quarantines too many legitimate emails"
𑗏 "It's too expensive"
𑗏 "Attacks bypass it too easily"
𑗏 "No way to know which attacks are getting through"
Phishing attacks (and cybercriminals tactics in general) are constantly evolving. They use many sophisticated techniques to evade detection by email security controls.
Traditional SEGs provide excellent email hygiene by filtering spam and malware. However, they are reactive and can struggle to deal with both links and payloadless attacks.
According to industry statistics, every 1 out of 3,722 emails in the UK is a phishing attempt.
Why? Hacking a human is a-lot easier than hacking software.
Many organisations continue to use third-party secure email gateways (SEGs) even though, Microsoft 365 includes a rich set of foundational email hygiene capabilities...
It seems like unneeded complexity and that you may be duplicating capabilities... Please refer to the infographic below which highlights some of the overlap.
The team here at Spear Shield recommends what Gartner has coined: an Integrated Cloud Email Security solution (ICES).
ICES products use behavioural analysis, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning to detect and stop phishing attacks, account takeovers, and the delivery of ransomware.
While a secure email gateway might be able to detect known threats, an ICES solution takes this to the next level. While SEGs can scan links and attachments for malware, the more sophisticated attacks use social engineering to lure victims into handing over data or sending money. An ICES product's advanced tools mean it's possible to stop these social engineering attacks before they cause any damage to the business.
Gartner explained in its guide: "[ICES] email security solutions use a variety of advanced detection techniques, including NLU, NLP, social graph analysis (patterns of email communication), and image recognition."
Findings in IBM's Cost of a Breach Report showed that organisations with AI-based security solutions — such as ICES — experienced a significant reduction in data breach costs, cutting breach costs from $6.71m to $2.90m.
Machine learning
Contextual machine learning allows a tool to understand users' behaviour in real-time. That includes the message's content, the sender's typical behaviour, their location, and when they're communicating with recipients. That allows the ICES product to spot suspicious activity outside the expected behaviour of a user and their recipients.
NLP
NLP turns language into actionable data. Attackers often use it to find out sensitive information about a target to launch a spear-phishing attack. That's why it's also an important tool in preventing these types of attacks. An ICES solution that uses NLP can understand the context of an email or attachment as a human would and take action accordingly.
"The burned hand teaches best. After that, advice about fire goes to the heart."
~ Gandalf the Cyber-Wizard.
Spear Shield are currently running a FREE Email security assessment that can help you identify:
If you'd like to learn more, you can visit www.spearshield.co.uk/phish or contact the team today:
01473 948980
About Spear Shield
Phish fighting, threat hunting, cyber risk mitigation experts.
Based in Ipswich, Suffolk. Spear Shield are a team of cybersecurity risk and mitigation experts who align their award-winning solutions and services to help businesses solve their cybersecurity challenges.