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The Email Security Best Practices Your Managed Service Provider Needs to Follow

Posted on November 19th 2019

Emails are responsible for spreading 92% of all malware and are a popular avenue of attack for cybercriminals. We receive so many emails each day across different accounts, we don’t always notice when something isn’t right. Click the wrong link or send attachments to the wrong account and you could inadvertently give someone access to your sensitive business information.

Work with an MSP and they can audit your existing email security to see if it meets the necessary standard. Here are some of the email security best practices a good MSP should already be following.

  • Filters That Catch Everything They Should
  • Anti-virus Software and Attachment Scanning
  • Protection Against Social Engineering Attacks
  • Training and Email Management

Filters That Catch Everything They Should

Phishing emails are behind 91% of successful cyberattacks, so it’s vital that the filters you have in place can reduce risk.

An MSP will thoroughly test and analyse your existing email security to determine whether or not the filter needs to be tweaked. If it isn’t stopping the sort of spam emails that it should be, then they can adjust it accordingly or move you to another email security provider that better suits your needs.

They can set variables that will decide what is and isn’t stopped. These filters can be tweaked and updated in the future, so the right MSP will monitor the incoming emails to see if anything needs to be changed.

Anti-virus Software and Attachment Scanning

Viruses can infect your systems via email. It can be something as simple as a malicious link that’s hiding within a perfectly normal-looking email. Or, it could be hidden as an attachment along with the other usual files you’d expect to see.

It’s often impossible to know whether or not these files are dangerous at first glance. This is why it’s so crucial you have the right email security measures in place. This includes anti-virus software and attachment scanning that will identify and block harmful links before alerting you.

Protection Against Social Engineering Attacks

The methods of cyberattack are always evolving and improving with hackers from all over the world finding new ways of accessing sensitive business information.

One of the most effective ways of fraudulently extracting money or data is via impersonation. In 2018, just one type of this method – CEO fraud – resulted in losses of £14.8 million for businesses in the UK.

People are less likely to fall for the spam emails and fake accounts that worked in the past. So to circumvent this, hackers are impersonating people that your staff know and asking for passwords, money transfers and other valuable data.

This is obviously a more advanced attack that involves social engineering and considerable research. To stop these copycat emails from reaching your inbox, MSPs should use state-of-the-art solutions offered by cybersecurity providers.

At BCN Group, we utilise the cutting-edge protection offered by email security providers. We choose from a diverse range of possible options to find the solution that best suits your specific security needs.

Emails are scanned in real-time, looking for slight differences that show they aren’t legitimate. Some of the checks commonly carried out include domain similarities, header anomalies and suspect content.

If anything is flagged up on one of the checks, then the user receives a clearly marked alert that lets them know that there’s a possible risk of impersonation.

Training and Email Management

Some emails will be stopped by robust filters when in fact they’re perfectly legitimate. A key feature of an MSP’s email security solution should be that they provide you with access and control.

By this we mean, it’s inefficient and unproductive to have to call an external partner each time you need an email releasing from the client filter.

Reports should come through during the day to let users know when an email has been blocked. They should then have permission to release the email to their inbox if everything looks OK.

The solution is secure but it gives you the freedom to manage it yourself. If any training or staff education is needed, then BCN Group can work closely with you to ensure everyone understands the process.

Emails are just one aspect of your network security that you need to constantly monitor and update. It’s a full-time responsibility as just one breach can lead to downtime, data loss and reputational damage.

When you consider that security is just one part of your role, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Make sure nothing slips through the cracks by working with an MSP. At BCN Group, we take the time to understand your business so that we can offer tailored solutions to the challenges you face each and every day.

Why You Should Work with BCN Group

Outsourcing might feel as though you’re giving up control of your role but when businesses work with us, that couldn’t be further from the truth. We work as an extension of your current team, dealing with those IT tasks that currently take up most of your day. This gives you the freedom to focus on the projects that are of strategic importance to your business achieving its goals.

For more information on outsourcing and why you should work with an MSP, feel free to download our benefits guide today. It can show you how to drive business growth and improve security measures across the whole organisation.

Get your copy now using the link below.

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