API-Based Solutions: The Future of Enterprise Email Security

As CISOs face evolving phishing and BEC trends, it's time to consider API-based email security and a proactive cybersecurity culture.

As the Chief Revenue Officer of IRONSCALES , I have seen firsthand how the threat landscape for enterprise companies is constantly evolving. Our recent IRONSCALES Threat Index: Q4'22/Q1'23 Edition highlighted the pressing cybersecurity challenges faced by organizations today.

The report's key findings underscore the necessity for CISOs at enterprise companies to consider an API-based email security solution over traditional SEGs and emphasize employee security awareness training.

To further illustrate this point, let's explore a hypothetical scenario involving a CISO who faces a breach due to phishing and has to report it to the board.

The Phishing Breach Scenario

Jane, a CISO at a financial company, was blindsided by a sophisticated phishing attack that bypassed her organization's traditional SEG. An employee fell for a well-crafted BEC scam, resulting in unauthorized access to sensitive company information. Despite having a secure email gateway, this "unknown" threat evaded detection and compromised the company's security.

Now, Jane must report the incident to the board and outline her team's steps to remedy the situation and prevent future breaches. Realizing that traditional email security measures are no longer sufficient, she has two primary recommendations: adopting an API-based email security solution and implementing robust security awareness training for employees.

Addressing Unknown Threats with API-Based Email Security

API-based email security solutions can detect and remediate advanced threats like BEC, credential harvesting, and Account Takeover (ATO) that bypass traditional security solutions. This cutting-edge technology can identify anomalous behavior and unknown threats by combining AI and human insights, offering superior protection against targeted attacks.

BEC scams increase by 35%

BEC scams experienced a significant increase of 35% from the previous six months, accounting for 8.8% of all phishing scams. Fake invoices involving payment inquiries or wire transfer requests accounted for nearly 70% of all BEC attempts, up from 57% the previous year.

Eyal Benishti , founder and CEO of IRONSCALES , emphasized the importance of leveraging advanced AI technologies and human insights to combat the evolving threats of credential theft and BEC scams. These threats are especially concerning for industries like financial services, which must remain vigilant and adopt cutting-edge solutions.

IRONSCALES is the leading enterprise cloud email security platform, protecting over 10,000 global enterprises from sophisticated phishing and BEC attacks. By combining the power of AI and human insight, IRONSCALES provides comprehensive tools to bolster the security posture of organizations against the constantly evolving threat landscape.

For CISOs at enterprise-level companies, the findings of the IRONSCALES Threat Index emphasize the critical need to prioritize cybersecurity efforts and invest in advanced solutions that incorporate AI and human insights. This will enable organizations to tackle unknown threats, mitigate credential theft risk, and effectively combat the rise of BEC scams.

A few questions that you should be asking:

1. With the growing prevalence of unknown threats and sophisticated phishing attacks, how confident are you in your current email security measures to protect your organization? Have you considered incorporating AI-based solutions to enhance detection capabilities?
2. Given the steady increase in credential theft incidents, what steps are you taking to improve employee security awareness and training, and how are you monitoring your organization's vulnerability to this type of attack?
3. In light of the significant rise in business email compromise (BEC) scams, how are you addressing the threat of fake invoices and wire transfer requests within your organization, and what additional measures are you implementing to minimize the potential financial impact of such attacks?