Email security is paramount whether your correspondence covers political secrets, personal information or business data. Read on for our list of best practices to keep your email safe. An email was the first “killer app.” It very quickly went from being an expensive, idle curiosity, where users had to buy digital stamps in order to send each and every email, to something so ubiquitous that on average, people have 3 email addresses, even if they don’t regularly use them. It’s simple to set up a free email account. You can do it in literally minutes.
Evaluate the use of email in your organization and establish whether the behavior is appropriately safe and the location of any potential dangers. Choosing the correct email provider is another important decision as some won’t provide enterprise-level security.
Create a comprehensive email use policy and ensure staff is aware and supportive of it by making it user-friendly with examples for clarity. Governance backing can ensure the policy is successful.
Consult your IT department
If your firm has a technology department, ask what its standard is for protecting emails from possible hacking.
For example, Cavoukian says, internal emails sent to her office do not need to be encrypted because those emails stay on the organization’s secure intranet server.
Encryption
Your second line of defense is some form of encryption. If you’re not using an encrypted email system for business, then you should upgrade immediately. Otherwise, you are essentially locking your front door with a deadbolt, and leaving the back door wide open with a neon sign blinking above it. As you can imagine, this provides somewhat inadequate protection.
Use a VPN
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) adds additional security to email by encrypting and routing all internet traffic through the VPN provider’s server.
There is a multitude of enterprise VPN services available. Establish the authentication level and management control required. Choose one that can cater to your specific needs around who will be connected and how. Free open source alternatives are also available but can be complex to set up and use effectively.
Provide security awareness training
People are the weakest link in any security system and need to be the first line of defense and file-sharing, workplace collaboration and mobile devices bring new dangers that aren’t always understood. A security awareness programme can ensure staff emails are kept safe from any developing dangers as they arrive if education evolves as new threats emerge.
Install effective antivirus software
Install antivirus software that prevents, detect and remove and dangers. The program used should scan incoming emails and attachments. And block spam, remove viruses, phishing, worms, malware, ransomware, Trojans and any other threats, both incoming and outgoing. It must also stay updated automatically and continuously to protect against any new threats as soon as they emerge.
