Email security is crucial for everyone. But it is of utmost importance to business owners. So the business owner should ensure he/she keep business email secure. Even, cybercriminals put more effort in trying to compromise a business email account than a personal email account. They consider there’s more to steal in a business email account.
If you own a business, you shouldn’t take email security for granted.
There is one workaround for your email security needs; opt for a managed email hosting service. Before we discover email security best practices, let’s see why should you secure your email.
Why Email Security Matters?
A compromised email system can pose a huge threat to your business’s sensitive data.
One misfortunate event is where hackers obtain the credit card details or client data that can allow identity theft. It is the sole liability of the business owner to ensure the client’s data is kept secure.
Moreover, criminals try to utilize the email systems to obtain access to the business’s web hosting accounts. For instance, a hacker can use a domain hijacking method to compromise your business email.
A hacker’s aim may be to take control over the business’s email accounts and utilize it to send a flood of phishing emails.
Unfortunately, hackers can use those emails to infect the systems with malware. One-click on a wrong link can have malware secretly installed. It can be a keylogger that lets the criminal collect client’s data and view the credentials entered in the login forms, ransomware that denies access to crucial files till you pay, or a virus designed to contaminate your data.
For Business, Use Secure Email Hosting
Every business needs to have complete control over its email service and you won’t obtain that services with a free email account.
Opting a commercial business hosting is crucial as it not only offers you security for email hosting but also creates brand recognition among your potential clients. A business email address ending with “@gmail.com,” “@yahoo.com,” “@aol.com,” or anything similar won’t seem to be professional. On the other hand, email addresses like [email protected] and [email protected] will make your business professional and can gain trust among your clients.
From a security aspect, free email hosting can be an easy target for hackers as it is less secure than a paid email hosting. In the worst scenario, you can even lose access to your email account. For instance, the account can get suspended because of the malicious activity of a hacker who obtained access to your email account.
Whereas, if your business email service is operated on your hosting provider’s managed server, you will obtain full access to your account and you can depend on the experts of hosting to help keep your data safe. You will get to know, particularly what security measures are taken by the host to secure your data, and additionally, have the privilege to implement extra security as per your needs.
In terms of email security, a premium hosting plan will get the job done quite easily.
Top hosting providers put effort to deploy bulletproof email security; From implementing and managing the server firewalls to DDoS attack prevention and response. In case an issue arises, the fault-tolerant redundant system will ensure that there is no interruption in the service.
To know more about redundancy, you can read our guide on “What is Network Redundancy?“
The security features offered depends on your hosting provider. Hence, you yourself need to know some of the industries’ best practices for email security.
Business Email Security Best Practices
This section covers major business email security best practices that you should follow. Additionally, if you have employees, call these practices for setting strict policy guidelines.
Moreover, you can conduct security awareness training to develop security awareness against simulated attacks. Having said that, let see the best practices for email security.
Keep Business Email and Personal Email Separate
It is important that you use different email accounts for business and personal communication.
While someone utilizes the personal mail for business communications, there is a high risk of confidential business information getting compromised. There may be a possibility that you leave a footprint that the attacker can misuse to try and hack the business’ operational systems.
Employees should make a policy that business email accounts should solely be used for work-related messages and don’t use their personal accounts for the business.
Use Strong and Secure Password
Hackers obtain illegal access to the system by getting a user’s password, often it’s done by installing the key-logging software on the target system.
Several people use simple guessable password or any info related to the account holder which makes it vulnerable to hacks.
An email password, specifically a business email account password should be unique and strong.
While setting a password for an email, you should always use a combination of upper case and lower case letter, incorporate special characters and numbers.
Note: Don’t use personal information like names and birthdates to create a business email password.
Secure Email Account with Two Factor Authentication (2FA)
Given the fact that a business email is more confidential than a personal mail, business owners should implement a security measure to safeguard the email. Enabling the two-factor authentication (2FA) for a business email account is one of the best ways to disable access to those accounts.
With 2FA in the first place, the user will have to enter the code that is received via text or email. Only the code can accomplish the login process. Hence, unauthorized users won’t be able to login into the system.
Watch Out For Phishing Scams
One of the possible ways that hackers abuse an email is via phishing attacks. Trying to get confidential data such as login credentials and credit card data, hackers make the message look like it’s coming from a legit source.
Often the hackers use a method called spear phishing to fool the target organization or business. The hacker’s email will be a clone of a trusted company’s message, logo, font, and brand colors. However, on a close look, you can identify few mistakes.
Also Read: How Email Hosting Works and Why Do We Require It
Conclusion
Email Security is crucial for any business. Hackers exploit weakness. Hence you must take severe steps to protect the business against malicious activities.
Opting for a managed email hosting service is one of the important aspects of a business email security. Additionally, you can contact 10GB Hosting for implementing the email security service.