Email Threats By The Numbers: How Big Is My Risk?

In last week’s Behind the Shield newsletter, we explored the steadily increasing cyber risk that all businesses - especially SMBs - face on a daily basis. Threat actors are exploiting our new cyber security reality - remote workers’ increased reliance on cloud email, the hurried adoption of vulnerable cloud platforms and a widespread shortage of IT resources and funding - and are launching sophisticated phishing, ransomware and business email compromise (BEC) attacks aiming to steal sensitive data and large sums of money from victims.

The fact that the dangers users face online have been heightened in this new remote work environment is undeniable - but exactly how big is your email risk? Let’s take take a closer look at the magnitude and the consequences of some of the most prevalent and dangerous email-borne attacks threatening your business with some notable stats:

• Security researchers estimate that there has been a 600% increase in phishing attacks due to COVID-19, with 160,000 suspicious emails reported to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) over a 14 day period.
• 95% of attacks on enterprise networks are initiated with a phishing email.
• 30% of phishing attempts evade existing security defenses and are opened by target users.
• As of March 2020, the average ransomware demand in the U.S. is $84,000, with one-third of victims paying the ransom.
• 60% of SMBs go out of business within six months of experiencing a ransomware attack.
• The FBI reports that between 2016 and 2019, BEC scams resulted in $26 billion in reported losses for businesses worldwide. 

Can your business afford to leave its email accounts an ‘open door’ to cyber criminals? Combating sophisticated modern attacks requires comprehensive, multi-layered defenses.

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