A global 2018 survey reported that “nearly half of all email security professionals saw significant email threats reach their users every week. Nearly a quarter of them saw those same risks daily.” – source: Help Net Security
This is disturbing, as the core function of email security professionals is to mitigate these email threats and there are a myriad of security tools available to help them achieve this.
But, what proportion of the responsibility to maintain email security should be assigned to technology and what to users?
Our expert’s opinion:
Technology can only go so far. Users are the weakest link and therefore education is king.
While email service providers, digital security companies and corporate security teams are all working on combating cyber-attacks like phishing, cyber-criminals are always pushing to be a step ahead.
No matter what technological solutions they come up with, human beings remain the greatest point of vulnerability.
The most important thing any organization can do, is to educate its customers and employees. This doesn’t just mean keeping them up to date with the latest messaging used in phishing attacks, but also reminding them what the organization will never ask them to do in an email.
Educational messaging needs to be consistent and communicated across multiple channels (including your app). People are busy and distracted, and if your messaging isn’t frequent and consistent, they’re likely to slip back into old habits.
Linda Misauer
Head of Global Solutions
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Striata is a leading provider of digital customer communication solutions that improve customer experience and advance the digital transformation of a company’s communication strategy.