In 1971, Ray Tomlison developed the first email service while working at The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) . This development changed how we communicated. However, even though this was an exceptional tool, it was not very user-friendly, requiring users to have specific software installed on their computers. In 1996, Sabeer Bhatia founded Hotmail, making it the first web-based...

What Is Business Email Compromise (BEC)? Business email compromise (BEC) is a dangerous and pervasive type of email spoofing that targets businesses, aiming to damage them in some financial or reputation-based way. It does so via deceptive tactics, such as CEO or executive impersonation, allowing BEC attacks to evade security filters, leading to fraud, compromised accounts, and data leakage. Other...

Find out how Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway appliance transforms email from a high-risk communication channel to one that’s PCI-compliant.

In this post, we’ll briefly explain what a DMARC policy is , how to set up your DMARC email record, what the three types of DMARC policies are and when to implement each one, and how to diagnose and fix any issues associated with it. Basically, your DMARC policy tells email receivers what to do with illegitimate or possibly fraudulent emails—whether to reject, quarantine, or accept them. Overall...

Preview the latest global phishing benchmarking results and expert security awareness recommendations from Fortra's Terranova Security 2023 Gone Phishing Tournament.

Most organisations have security controls in place to inspect URLs in emails to prevent the risk of credential phishing and business email compromise (BEC) attacks. However, threat adversaries have pivoted their tactics to bypass security stacks. And clicking these types of attacks often leads to account takeover. In fact, data from Fortra’s PhishLabs in Q2 2023 reported more than three-quarters...

Ransomware Risk Has Never Been Greater Ransomware gangs are strategically targeting enterprises, disabling critical systems, and demanding record ransom amounts. They are also stealing confidential data and threatening to leak company secrets unless victims pay up. With Fortra's Agari, enterprises can disrupt these attacks before they start and proactively monitor for ransomware data leaks. Stop...

Because email remains the most ubiquitous form of business communication, it continues to be a favorite attack vector for cybercriminals. Email has always been vulnerable because it was not originally designed with security or privacy in mind. As a result, email security vendors emerged to protect this critical communication channel. In the early days, many vendors used signature or reputation...

Threats in corporate inboxes hit new highs with a quarter of all reported emails classified as malicious or untrustworthy. 99% of these threats were email impersonation threats, such as BEC and credential theft lures, that lack attachments or URLs delivering malware payloads. Cybercriminals continue to bypass traditional email security tools and reach end users by impersonating individuals...

You did it! You can now take a quiz and accurately answer "What Is DMARC?"! Next you've generated your DMARC record, implemented your policy, and authenticated your email domains. DMARC is no easy feat in itself and now, after DNS requests, third-party conference calls and writing internal policies, you are ready...to enforce a stricter DMARC policy ! If your DMARC policy has been set to p=none...

The cyber-threat landscape is rapidly evolving, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to comply with new regulations and protect against the loss of patient. While the majority of news reports focus on malicious external threats and actors, 65 percent are the result of internal leaks. In addition, 73 percent of those are the result of inadvertent sharing of information. Challenges in...

A famous front cover of The Economist in 2017 declared that the 'world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data.' The value of data has indeed increased significantly. Organizations rely on data and data analytics for almost every facet of their operations and use it to make insightful decisions to help move the business forward. Many have invested in the tools and solutions - AI, CRM...

The rise of globally dispersed workforces and new work from home requirements are placing extraordinary pressure on every organization’s cybersecurity. And wherever there is upheaval, so cyber criminals thrive. Alongside the devastating health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, we have also seen an escalation in cyber-attacks. A recent CISO/CIO survey , looking at cybersecurity...

Unsurprisingly the defense industry requires the most secure information sharing environment in the world, but what implications does this have for ensuring the effective mitigation of cyber risks? There is something of a paradox between the need for complete information governance in the defense sector and the rise of IoT, BYOD, cloud computing and the democratization of data in today’s blurred...

When considering cybersecurity policies and risk management, protection from phishing, ransomware, and other Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) are usually top of mind. Data loss protection usually makes the list as well. However, one area of risk that can be overlooked is supply chain cybersecurity attacks. Trusted partners are vital to organizations but the cyber risks they pose can be just as...