Q. Mailbox full of spam? Receive emails claiming to originate from friends encouraging you to click odd links or launch programs?
This affects all business that uses email and there can’t be many left who don’t. We've all been there, a mailbox full of the latest products, offers of Viagra and other pharmaceutical drugs and let’s not forget the random emails from someone in Africa who needs your help to get their money out of the country. This type of email is annoying as well as time and resource consuming to deal with.
With reports indicating that somewhere between 80 and 95% of all inbound messages are spam this is an important issue for all organisations to address. Not only is general spam a big problem there are also phishing mails, email-borne attacks and spyware to consider. This significantly impacts productivity of staff and IT departments who have to deal with the consequences of these messages.
Q. Been a target of Spear Phishing?
Spear phishing is a targeted email attack usually with the aim at gaining access to confidential company data. Typically targeted email will appear to come from another person within the company or from a trusted supplier.
A high profile example of how effective targeted email attacks can be in the RSA hack in March 2011. In a RSA blog post they explained how the attackers sent two different phishing emails, over two days, with the subject line "2011 Recruitment Plan". The email contained an Excel spreadsheet that installed a backdoor through an Adobe Flash vulnerability. The impact of this attack is well documented and demonstrates how effective these attacks can be.
Why Shield IT Solutions?
Email filtering can either be tackled in the cloud or via an appliance on the perimeter of your network. Shield IT Solutions can guide you through the process of selecting the right tool for your organisation and help get you up and running.
We should point out that technology can only go so far to help prevent this type of attack. Staff education is an important part of the defence. An "If in doubt don't open it" may well annoy the IT staff, but the repercussions of opening an attachment can be much worse to deal with.
