Protect your business from email attacks
There’s no question that Australian businesses are under threat online. According to research from Accenture, security breaches have increased by 11% since 2018, and 67% since 2014.
For a business, even the smallest cybersecurity incident can have devastating impacts. Losing data equals losing money. When your data gets attacked, it takes time to recover – valuable time when you can’t operate your business. Lost time will result in lost income.
Of particular threat to business owners and employers are “business email compromise” (also know as “BEC”) attacks – which you’ll no doubt already be familiar with. These email attacks involve scammers emailing employees to trick them into sending money or divulging confidential company info.
These types of cyberattacks tend to be:
- Requests for money, especially if urgent or overdue
- Bank account changes
- Attachments
- Requests to check or confirm login details
Research from Abnormal Security revealed there was an 81% increase in BEC attacks between the first and the second half of 2022. Worryingly, employees opened around 28% of received attacks between July and December 2022, with an average of 15% of these emails responded to. Even more concerning is the fact that only 2.1% of email attacks were reported to employers.
What can employers do to protect their business?
- Incorporate, update and regularly repeat cybersecurity training and awareness amongst your employees. Research has shown that only around 51% of Australian companies train their staff in cybersecurity awareness
- Implement simulated BEC attacks, just as you do with fire drills
- Establish an access control system to determine who should have access to what
- Restrict administrator privileges to an ‘as-required’ basis
- Do not share passphrases, for example, individual logins
- Remember to revoke accounts when employees leave the business
- Use strong passphrases
- Use with multi-factor authentication
- Create a cybersecurity incident response plan
- Reward employees who find threats
- Create a cybersecurity culture and encourage regular discussions
- Always be cautious of emails with unusual requests
It’s also worth talking to your IT department about investing in comprehensive cybersecurity systems, to ensure that the BEC attacks never hit employee inboxes in the first place.
It’s a problem that definitely can’t be ignored! Have a chat to the team at the HR Dept to see how we can help implement policies and procedures to keep your business safe from cybercrime.