Tip of the Week: Simple Steps to Safer Email Practices

Security is always a business priority, and with so many business needs now fulfilled digitally, it is critical that cybersecurity has a strong presence in organizations big and small. Nowadays, collaboration solutions have also had even greater importance in the workplace, making tools like email completely essential. Unfortunately, this gives cybercriminals an increased opportunity to use it as a means of attack.

In order to minimize your chances of falling for such an attack, you have to know what could be coming and what to do to prevent it. Let’s discuss the steps to take that allow you to do so for this week’s tip.

What Do My Employees Need to Do?

If you’re going to have any shot at protecting your business, your entire team needs to be unified in how to defend it against threats, down to how they use their email solution. Therefore, you need to be sure that your team is aware of all the different means of attack that are out there, and the basic ways they can help keep your company safe while using their email.

Keep an Eye Out for Warning Signs

While some threats are certainly easier to spot than others, many can be stopped via some simple vigilance. Make sure that you and your team are all keeping an eye out for the warning signs of phishing and are being cautious when handling messages from unknown senders. Any unexpected attachments should be avoided.

Double-Check the Details

Whenever you receive an email, you need to be careful that it is from who it seems to be. Discrepancies in the sender’s email address are a major red flag, as are unexpected links or attachments, as these could easily be spoofed to malicious sites or contain malware payloads. Don’t disclose any information if it is requested, without reaching out to the sender through another medium.

Automate Your Protections

Of course, why create even more work for your employees when they could have their own defensive behaviors assisted by solutions you’ve implemented? Automated security precautions can help to identify spam and assorted other threats as they reach your inbox. Not only does this keep human error from becoming your downfall, it helps keep your team productive by allowing them to spend more time on their work and less tiptoeing around threats.

Use Encryption to Your Benefit

Encryption protocols can obscure your data from view as it travels from point A to point B, making it far less worth a cybercriminal’s time to steal it. As a result, it is definitely worth implementing to protect communications like email, instant messaging, and video conferencing, where sensitive data and other private information may be shared.

Horne & Benik is well aware of the importance of your security and can put the solutions in place to protect all of your company’s resources and interactions. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 499-4400.