E-mail security: 5 ways to identify dangerous e-mails

Email security is becoming increasingly important as 94% of security incidents with malware occur through the use of malicious e-mails. In other words, out of every 10 malware attacks, 9 of them happen via email. With billions of emails being sent every day, identifying dangerous emails infused with malware, phishing scams, and spam can be challenging, especially for not-so-tech-savvy email users. In this article, we will cover the best ways to identify dangerous emails and the best email security practices that can help you improve your digital security.

Why is email security important?

We live in a modern era where we have access to a plethora of communications mediums. Many of these communication platforms are free to use and some cost money. Most email service providers offer free emailing services, therefore both individuals and businesses leverage this mode of communication. However, this merely does not mean that emails are secure. Experts report that 91% of cyber attacks come from email, which makes email one of the most dangerous attack vectors of cybercriminals.

Not taking appropriate measures to secure your email can put your device and data at risk of countless security threats and email security for businesses is no different. Compromised business emails accounted for over $1.8 billion in losses in 2020. If these numbers are not enough for you to understand the importance of email security for businesses and individuals, continue reading as we share some of the most common consequences of compromised emails. Such consequences include are not limited to the following:

● Data theft/loss

● Identify theft

● Blackmailing

● Security breach

● Device corruption/damage

● Malware infections

● Revenue loss

● Reputational damage

● Cyberbullying

● Loss of Intellectual Property

● Damage to Brand Reputation and the list goes on.

5 ways to identify malicious emails

About 80% of the worldwide email traffic is spam. Learning the best email security practices will serve you greatly in your quest to increase your business cybersecurity and your personal digital footprint. Here are the top 5 tips to identify dangerous emails.

1- Strange-looking sender’s information

Spotting a damaged email from a sea of emails can be challenging. Skilled cybercriminals use sophisticated email scams to trick unsuspecting victims. Sending phishing emails posing as reputed companies, stores, and professionals is one of the common email scams of hackers. Likewise, there is a myriad of ways hackers can compromise an email. However, regardless of what type of email scam attacks use, the one key weaknesses in such malicious emails are that the sender’s email address always looks fishy.

A malicious email will always likely have strange characters like unnecessary commas and periods, misspellings, or added numbers inconspicuously hiding in the sender’s email address. For example, an original sender’s email address may be [email protected] while fraudsters may send a malicious email while impersonating the sender by creating a fake email address such as [email protected].

2- Request for personal information

The primary target of cybercriminals is your personal information and data. Almost all the malicious emails of hackers will try to convenience you to perform specific actions or reveal your personal information by causing a sense of urgency. For example, fraudsters may send a phishing email posing as a bank officer asking you to verify or change your bank account password for security reasons. Reputed and legit companies will never ask for your personal information via emails.

3- Lack of contact details

Emails from legit companies or company representatives always have proper employee or brand signatures with contact information. Almost all legit business emails or emails from banks, stores, any business entity will have proper contact details of the senders. Emails that ask you to perform specific actions that may reveal your personal information and lack proper contact details are more likely to be fraudulent as compared to emails that include proper sender’s information and contact back details.

4- Email attachments

Over 66% of malware is installed because of malicious emails. Recent studies found that a whopping 85% of malicious emails contained an attached file in the form of .DOC, .XLS, .PDF, .ZIP, or .7Z . Cybercriminals can send dangerous emails containing malicious viruses, spyware software, and ransomware malware as legit-looking email attachments. Such malicious files, if opened and downloaded can damage your device, corrupt your data or do even worse.

5- Suspicious Links

Similar to attachments, emails containing suspicious links you don’t recognize or were not expecting to receive are another tell-tale sign you can use to identify a dangerous email. Most dangerous links will either be incomplete, to a site you’ve never heard of, or even consist of jumbled letters and numbers. Before clicking on any links, hover your mouse over the link to preview the URL safely.

5 quick tips to protect yourself from dangerous emails

By now, you would have developed a fair understanding of how much and why email security is important and how you can spot a malicious email. To help you even more, here are 5 tips that can further help you increase your email security.

● Make maximum use of spam protection filters offered by your email service provider.

● Install an internet security program that blocks unwanted email and also filters out spam.

● Always double-check the links in an email for legitimacy and avoid click-baits.

● Never give out your personal information over the phone or email. Always call the relevant person or company yourself or visit them physically for verification.

● Never open attachments before scanning them for viruses. There are many online security programs that can scan attachments without having you download them to your device.

Want to learn more about online security? Or have a business you would like to protect from emerging cybersecurity threats? NGN Training Center offers a diverse range of resources and expertise that can empower you and your business to tackle advanced security threats.