The security threat businesses are facing through email systems is rising, according to a new report.
Barracuda Networks has published its 2019 Email Security Threat report, which reveals that email-related breaches and phishing attacks are on the rise.
With 82 per cent of organisations claiming to have faced an attempted email-based hack attempt in the past year, email security has never been higher priority.
The effects of this cyber-threat include loss of employee productivity, downtime, business disruption, data loss, financial impact and reputational damage.
In response to the rise in email security threats, British hosting firm UKFast has launched a new Phishing as a Service platform, which helps organisations to test and educate their workforce and thus reduces their exposure to phishing attacks.
“Phishing is the place that most hackers start if they want to launch attacks against a company,” said UKFast CTO Neil Lathwood.
“It’s proven to be one of the most efficient ways to get information from senior employees, who tend to fall for it a lot. They are also the ones most likely to hold critical data.
“Often the employees that you’d expect to be up to speed about phishing attacks are the ones who leave the door open.
“We’re seeing more inventive and sophisticated attacks. Hackers create fake email chains with apparent conversations between board members discussing a particular activity.
“The victim is then copied in at the end, with the supposed board members asking the employee to take an action, whether that’s inadvertently uploading a file by clicking a link within the email or making a payment to a fake account.
“It’s always the human element that is the weakest link in the chain. Phishing as a Service gives businesses the facility to test that link without incurring significant damage.”
Find out more about reducing your exposure to email attacks with UKFast’s Whitepaper.