Whether it’s a presidential campaign or a major data breach at a multinational corporation, ignoring email server security can lead to big headaches and crippling costs. On average, cyberattacks cost companies $200,000. 

That’s a lot of money. 

That’s a lot of trouble. 

Many businesses would have a hard time recovering from that kind of expense.

With hackers becoming smarter and more skillful each day, it’s crucial for your business to keep up on email server security and follow best practices. Here’s what you need to know about the risks and solutions to email server security:

The Risks Your Email Server Faces

Once a hacker makes their way into your email server and acquires access to your company files, there might not be much you can do. That’s why it’s important to know the risks and stop trouble before it can happen. Cybercriminals can take advantage of the information in your data and commit a variety of harmful acts. With the right (or wrong) information, a bad actor can put your business in a vulnerable position—especially if they’ve taken control of your computer networks and are threatening you with a ransom demand.

For just one example, in 2019 Riviera Beach, FL fell victim to a ransomware attack that crippled their city’s online systems, email, phones, and water utility pump stations. Between the ransom and replacing entire computer systems, the final cost was in excess of $1.5 million.

That said, the most popular targets for these kinds of attacks are small and medium-sized businesses. According to a recent Proofpoint report, over half of all phishing attacks from the past year were against these types of businesses.

Why is email such a popular target for attack? For one thing, it’s been around for decades. Hackers have had plenty of time to understand how it works and where vulnerabilities most likely lie. It’s also still widely used. While a lot of personal communication has moved to social media platforms, people still use email for business, managing bill notifications, and shopping online. 

Here are some of the most common threats to email servers that business owners should be aware of:

Phishing emails

Phishing is when an email pretends to come from a trusted source either by spoofing a known email address or disguising itself as official communication. It might pretend to be your coworker. It might pretend to be your bank or even something regarding an Amazon account, The purpose of this is to trick the receiver into revealing personal information such as passwords, financial numbers, or to click on links that result in downloading malware.

Hidden malware and viruses

These can be especially tricky. Depending on the software, just opening an email infected with malware or viruses can be enough to cause problems ranging from computer worms that overwhelm networks, trojan horses that allow for backdoor access to your systems, or spyware that tracks and records all computer activity. Malware and viruses have a tendency to grow more sophisticated over time which is why it’s important to scan for such things regularly and keep on top of software updates. 

Ransomware

As with the Riviera Beach incident mentioned above, ransomware infects your network, encrypts data (including login information), and essentially locks you out until you pay a ransom in exchange for the decryption key. This can be hugely disruptive and expensive to deal with. 

Social Engineering

Social engineering differs from other methods because it doesn’t attempt to directly break into your computer system. Instead, bad actors track your email and computer usage to gather data such as personal or financial information, birthdays, phone numbers, and contacts. Once they have enough information, they may attempt to get into your email or other private accounts by guessing passwords or answering security questions. 

Simple Steps to Protecting Your Email Servers

One of the most dangerous positions for a business to take is: “It’ll never happen to us.” Don’t ever assume that your network and email server are safe from attack. You should always at least adopt the basics. A little can go a long way. Nearly 80% of cyber breaches can be prevented by following simple steps such as:

Educate Your Employees

Make sure your employees know how to use email safely. Outline the most common threats and how to recognize them. Have a protocol in place for what to do or who to contact in case suspicious emails crop up and they aren’t sure how to respond. 

Conduct regularly scheduled awareness and training activities and be sure to cover the latest developments in online threats. 

Take control of control settings

A lot of people get a little overwhelmed when it comes to adjusting control settings in your email server. It’s easy to make mistakes that could result in either legitimate emails being blocked, or leaving your system completely open to attack. Just the same, it’s a necessary task. 

One thing to consider is limiting the access your employees have to certain controls—give them enough authority on programs to just do their job, but not to anything that could affect your whole system. Give them all different passwords as well. These steps will prevent mistakes such as deleting the email server or putting access and sensitive information into the wrong hands.

If you’re uncertain about the nuts and bolts of server settings, consult or hire an IT expert to help you and walk you through what settings have to be made. Additional security steps to consider include configuration management, malware scanning, spam filtering tools, firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems, and conducting overall risk assessments.

Keep on top of updates

There are two good reasons to constantly update your email software. For one, new or updated software has very likely closed some security holes or addressed new spam threats that have been discovered since the last software release. Second, hackers can’t get too comfortable knowing what software you’re running. By changing it up and installing updates and improvements, you stay a step or two ahead of the game.

Test your security strength

It’s a good idea to test for the strengths and weaknesses of your security measures on a regular basis. Virus and malware checkers can determine if any dangerous files have gotten through your defenses. Send test emails to yourself and employees to see if filters are working and if safety protocols are being followed.

Encryption is key

Encryption should be a minimum requirement to any company’s email server security practices. By converting emails and email login information to encrypted code, you can go a long way in preventing unauthorized access and severely limit what a hacker can do with stolen data. Unless they have the encryption key or credentials, any stolen information is worthless 

Do we still need to talk about passwords?

Maybe so. Given recent news, it appears even some folks at the CIA haven’t gotten the memo on best password practices. Require your employees to change their passwords on a regular basis and avoid using obvious words or easily guessable dates in their passwords. This should be the minimum requirement. If you want to kick things up a notch security-wise, look into two-step authentication where applicable.

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Of all the tools you use in your business, email is probably the one most used. For that reason alone, email security should be a top priority. Protecting computer networks, business information, and sensitive customer data can make or break a business. Show everyone—clients and hackers alike—that you take your email server security seriously. 

It’s not that difficult, and the payoff is worth it.