Email is the most common attack vector for cybercriminals, in fact the overwhelming majority (94%) of malware-related security incidents are delivered via email. It’s no surprise that email security is at the forefront of many business leader’s minds. In any case, poor email security can be costly, both reputationally and financially. Evidently, it’s more crucial than ever to increase your email security protection.
In an attempt to mitigate these risks, today, Advanced Cyber Defence Systems (ACDS) have announced the launch of its Email Security Essentials combined offering. The bundle comprises two products, Email Guard and File Guard. These solutions help to address the most common email-borne attacks, Business Email Compromise (BEC) and phishing, which can lead to the deployment of ransomware – providing a complete solution for small and medium-sized organisations. The underlying technology is also available via API for larger enterprises. According to the FBI, phishing attacks have the largest number of cases reported annually, and Business Email Compromise (BEC) causes the biggest financial loss (in 2020, BEC attacks caused losses of $1.8bn).
The ACDS Email Security Essentials solution drastically reduces the likelihood of malicious email attachments reaching the recipient’s inbox and also helps to protect against spoofing attacks that can occur with emails being sent out from an organisation, and within. Research shows that email phishing attacks made up 24% of all spam types in 2022, a significant increase in proportion from 11% in 2021.
The File Guard and Email Guard products were developed by ACDS from open-source code used by the UK government and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Further development has ensured that the products are enterprise-grade, building these technologies alongside enterprise users for a seamless and intuitive customer experience. The product has the capability to scale and can be easily deployed by IT/security teams, with a clear and concise view and accessible interface.
The ACDS Email Security Essentials package includes:
Email Guard: Email Guard analyses your domain’s email security technologies (i.e. DMARC, DKIM, SPF, TLS and others) and guides users to the correct configuration, which will help prevent spoofing and other attacks. Email Guard continues to analyse over time, identifying changes, gaps or updates required to your configuration, to maintain this level of protection. With these configurations in place, it is much harder for an organisation’s domain to be used to send fraudulent emails to its customers, partners, or employees while protecting the encryption and confidentiality of messages sent by your users.
File Guard: File Guard removes malware from documents before they arrive, providing end-users with the confidence to open and click on attachments. The product intercepts the most common file attachments sent via email (Word Documents, PDFs, JPEGs, GIFs, PNGs, and others) by flattening and then reconstructing them, stripping out any malicious code. The product can be used alongside antivirus software to flag up known malware threats for IT teams to act on. Crucially, File Guard frees up the IT and security teams from the day-to-day chores of handling quarantined files and false positives.
According to Vineet Korpal, Operations Manager and Optometrist at EyeSmile, a small business offering a complete range of dental, optical and facial aesthetic services,
“Our business relies on our reputation and safeguarding our patient’s data and information. As we became more aware of the risk of a potential phishing attack and data breach, we looked for an email security solution that would not only help to protect the organisation from spoofing but also give us the peace of mind that our consultants and doctors can share medical images and open file attachments with confidence. ACDS demonstrated that they understood our specific requirements about the importance of retaining high-quality images sent via email and shifting the responsibility from the employees to the organisation to help keep us secure”.