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94% of all malware is delivered via email.
Why is that? What makes email platforms such a popular vector for malware distribution?
Cyber Criminals Prefer Email
Email is everywhere. Almost everyone uses it for personal and professional communication. With billions of email accounts worldwide, attackers have countless opportunities to reach potential victims.
This massive user base provides cybercriminals with an enormous potential target pool. Meanwhile, crafting and sending malicious emails is relatively easy and inexpensive. Cyber criminals can reach many victims with minimal effort when using email platforms to spam potential targets.
They often impersonate trusted brands or individuals to make their emails appear legitimate. This increases the likelihood that recipients will open the email and follow the malicious instructions.
This versatility allows attackers to adapt their methods to different targets and objectives, such as:
- Malicious attachments (Word documents, PDFs, executable files)
- Embedded links to infected websites
- HTML-based emails that can execute scripts
- Spoofed sender addresses that look legitimate
Weaknesses in Email Platforms
These online mailing systems have inherent vulnerabilities that make unencrypted platforms very dangerous. Modern email-based malware attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and can exploit common technical risk factors, such as:
- Complex email protocols with multiple potential exploit points
- Challenges in real-time verification of sender authenticity
- Difficulty in comprehensively scanning all attachments and links
- Legacy email systems with outdated security measures
- Traditional security filters that can’t handle multi-stage attacks
While email is an essential communication tool, it’s also a significant potential security risk that requires constant vigilance and sophisticated defense strategies.
The Allure of Social Engineering
Many successful attacks exploit human behavior, such as curiosity or urgency. Phishing emails often use social engineering tactics to trick recipients into clicking on malicious links or downloading infected attachments. Emails are particularly effective for social engineering attacks. Cybercriminals can craft convincing messages that:
- Appear to come from trusted sources like banks, colleagues, or familiar organizations
- Create a sense of urgency
- Exploit human psychology by triggering emotions like fear, curiosity, or anxiety.
- Manipulate recipients into taking quick, thoughtless actions like clicking a link or downloading an attachment.
Mass email campaigns are incredibly cheap. Cybercriminals can use automated tools to send thousands of emails with minimal investment, making them a cost-effective method for distributing malware.
Despite ongoing educational efforts, many users still fall for phishing scams and other email-based attacks. This lack of awareness makes email a reliable method for cybercriminals.
To best combat email-based attacks, we need equally strong prevention tactics. That means using encrypted communication platforms for sensitive data, implementing multi-factor authentication on all your accounts, and attentively participating in regularly scheduled cybersecurity awareness training. Understanding these threats is the best way to remain skeptical of suspicious messages and maintain updated security procedures.
Understanding these factors can help develop better defenses against email-based threats. Regular training, robust email security training, and a healthy dose of skepticism can go a long way toward protecting against these attacks.
Commonwealth Sentinel can assist your organization in staying secure by implementing robust password policies, utilizing practical multi-factor authentication tools, and providing comprehensive cyber training for your entire staff. It only takes one lucky cyber criminal to cause damage, so your team must always remain vigilant. To schedule a consultation, click here or contact us at (502) 320-9885.
At Commonwealth Sentinel, we are focused on cyber security so that you can focus on other things.