The Main Email Threats
Corporate email accounts and users face various security threats, and some of the most common include the following:
- Phishing: Phishing emails use deception and manipulation to steal sensitive information or install malware on the recipient’s computer. Phishing emails use malicious links to direct the user to phishing sites or have infected attachments that install malware on their computer.
- Business Email Compromise (BEC): In a BEC attack, the cybercriminal masquerades as a high-level executive within the target organization. They then use that person’s authority to instruct the recipient to send money to an attacker-controlled account, leak sensitive data, or take other harmful actions.
- Account Takeover (ATO): ATO attacks are designed to grant the attacker access to an email account via compromised credentials, malware, or other means. With this access, the attacker can steal sensitive data, take over other accounts via password resets, or use the account for spam or phishing attacks.
Types of Common Email Security Protocols
Email security protocols provide protection against the most common email security threats. Some common types of email security protocols include the following:
SSL/TLS
The Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) is an Internet security protocol that adds encryption and authentication to network traffic. It is the difference between insecure HTTP and secure HTTPS for web browsing.
Common email protocols such as SMTP, POP3, and IMAP are unencrypted by default, potentially leaving them exposed to eavesdropping. Incorporating SSL/TLS encrypts the connection between a user and the server, protecting against eavesdropping. However, SSL/TLS only offers encryption between the client and the server. In the case of webmail, email traffic is decrypted at the server, potentially allowing the email provider to see its contents.
End-to-End Encryption
End-to-end encryption ensures that network traffic is encrypted all the way from the sender to the intended recipient. This helps to ensure that no one — including the email provider — can eavesdrop on the traffic en route.
Several different end-to-end encryption solutions exist for email, including Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) and Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). These protocols use public key cryptography, where a user can publish a public key that can be used to encrypt emails to them.
S/MIME is more widely used in a business context for secure email. It relies on digital certificates to not only publicize a user’s public key but also ensure the authenticity of that public key.
DMARC, DKIM, and SPF
The Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) protocol is designed to protect against spoofing an organization’s domain in email messages. It specifies how the recipient of an email should handle a spoofed email.
Whether or not an email is spoofed is determined using two protocols:
- Sender Policy Framework (SPF): SPF specifies the set of IP addresses permitted to send emails on a domain’s behalf. The SPF entry is included in the DNS record for that domain, allowing the recipient to check whether an email’s sender is included in the allowlist.
- DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM): DKIM implements digital signatures for emails, using public keys that are also included in the domain’s DNS record. With DKIM, the recipient can not only verify the authenticity of an email but also that it was not tampered with while in transit.
DMARC, DKIM, and SPF can be configured as part of the DNS record for any domain. By doing so, an organization protects its customers, partners, employees, etc. from being the victims of phishing attacks using a spoofed domain.
Email Security with Harmony Email and Collaboration
Email security protocols provide protection against some potential threats to email. Email encryption protects against eavesdropping, while DMARC, DKIM, and SPF enable email recipients to authenticate the source of an email. However, they don’t protect against phishing, malware, and other email threats.
Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration provides industry-leading detection and prevention of email-borne malware and other major phishing threats. To find out more about how the security and usability of Harmony Email and Collaboration stand out when compared to other solutions, check out the 2023 Forrester Wave for Enterprise Email Security.
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