As of the beginning of this year, there are over 600,000,000 pieces of malware existing across the Internet. Businesses, particularly financial institutions and those housing sensitive data, are targeted daily with a variety of attacks, many of which focus on email platforms.
Not even tech giants like Google and Symantec can keep up with the ever-changing tactics of those who seek to infiltrate, pirate and steal data. Because of this, business owners need to be aware of the security flaws that leave them open to attack.
Easy-to-Remember Passwords
If you or your employees can easily recall your password, it probably isn’t as strong as you think it is. Hackers use strategies such as dictionary and brute-force attacks to gain access to email accounts with even moderately intricate passwords. These attacks are capable of spamming a login screen using thousands of dictionary words and common character combinations, eventually breaking into the desired account.
Avoid commonly used passwords and even discernible words. There are free password generators available online that combine more than a dozen randomized letters, numbers and other characters into hard to crack passwords. And don’t forget to change them often.
User Errors
The most susceptible part of an email platform usually isn’t its encryption capabilities, but the humans who use the platform. Phishing schemes, where emails containing malware links are spammed out to thousands of email addresses, are one of the most common attacks today. One click on the wrong link will grant hackers access to a person’s account.
This past presidential election showcased the surprising efficiency of these attacks when John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, fell victim to a phishing attack that opened up access to his gmail account.
Users should be trained to recognize these types of attacks so that they understand how to avoid falling victim to them.
Compliance Violations
It if you use the most secure email platform, it is still not suited for extremely sensitive information. Compliance laws like HIPAA even make it illegal to send medical information via email, unless you are have a fax over internet protocol (FoIP) software in place.
Be Safe, Use Reliable Fax Software
Nothing is more secure than fax software, which is why Fortune 500 companies rely on it to keep their data transmission secure and compliant with all applicable regulations. If you are still using email to send sensitive information about your business or your clients, consider setting up a RightFax server today.
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