Managed Services: A Key Element of Effective Email Security that Even Modern Solutions Lack

Whether it’s the mask we wear when running errands or the bottle of hand sanitizer we now carry with us at all times, we are constantly reminded of the increased physical risk we face daily due to COVID. However, our health is not the only thing that has been threatened by this pandemic. The email threat landscape has remodeled how we work over the past six months - leaving businesses, users and critical data at heightened risk. 

 Businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the threats they face online - the majority of which involve email. Email security defenses are evolving, desperately trying to keep pace with sophisticated emerging attacks stealthily crafted to evade detection. However, there is one key area where even the most innovative, modern email security solutions consistently fall short: managed services. An effective email security solution cannot simply be selected and purchased, leaving the responsibility of configuration and management in the hands of the administrator. Rather, securing business email is an ongoing process that requires around-the-clock monitoring and maintenance by a team of experts, dedicated to understanding the evolving risks and applying the specific real-time guidance necessary to each individual business. Failure to implement a business email security solution accompanied by continual, expert management, system monitoring and support services often leaves businesses vulnerable to attack - even with supplementary email defenses in place. 

In order to secure email against today’s most advanced exploits, it is essential that businesses have a fully-managed email security solution in place, designed to protect against the specific threats each individual business faces, to provide the level of expertise and support needed to safeguard sensitive data and other key assets in this modern digital threat environment.

The Modern Email Threat Landscape 

2020 has introduced an era of unprecedented digital risk for businesses worldwide. In this new reality of social distancing, remote work and virtual meetings, existing threats have been magnified and new threats have been introduced. Widespread migration to Office 365 and G Suite to fulfill communication and collaboration needs has made cloud email a more popular target than ever for cyber criminals’ malicious attack campaigns. Threat actors are exploiting overworked IT staff, inherently insecure cloud platforms, misconfigurations due to rushed deployments of Office 365 and G Suite, improperly secured endpoints and poor administration to target businesses in dangerous, costly scams designed to compromise systems and steal sensitive data. 

Many of these attacks leverage zero-day exploits and stealthy fileless techniques to evade built-in cloud email security defenses. And these malicious tactics have proven to be successful - the FBI reports that despite existing security defenses, 30% of phishing attempts are opened by target users. 

Additional protection is clearly needed to defend against phishing, ransomware and other malicious email exploits in this heightened digital threat environment.

The Challenge

For many businesses - especially SMBs - a lack of cyber security resources and expertise has been an ongoing challenge, which has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. Sixty-two percent of organizations will tighten their 2021 IT budgets due to COVID-19 - and will sacrifice security by doing so. Small businesses often lack a full-time IT department or mail administrator, and even with these positions filled, organizations cannot rely on IT professionals, who are often not trained email security experts, to secure corporate email accounts. 

That being said, the harsh reality is that businesses of all sizes in all industries have a lot to lose to cyber thieves. A successful attack or breach can result in data theft, financial loss, reputation damage and significant downtime or worse - permanent closure. With over 40% of SMBs being targeted daily by cyber criminals, a business owner needs to ask him or herself - can I really afford to risk my clients, my reputation and my business by leaving corporate email accounts an ‘open door’ to threat actors? 

Investing in managed email security services that simplify administration and provide ongoing supplementary cloud email protection can enhance security, optimize efficiency and provide an invaluable peace-of-mind - freeing up valuable cyber security resources and enabling business owners and administrators to focus on aspects of running a business besides securing email accounts.

The Solution: Simplify Administration and Enhance Cloud Email Security with Guardian Digital Managed Services 

Guardian Digital recognizes that setup and management are significant hurdles for SMBs looking to implement an effective cloud email security solution, and that protecting against today’s advanced threats requires a level of expertise beyond what the majority of businesses can find within their organization. Guardian Digital EnGarde Cloud Email Security addresses these critical challenges with all-in-one, fully-managed security defenses. EnGarde is more than security software. Rather, it is a multi-layered, enterprise-grade email defense platform accompanied by expert, managed services and accessible, around-the-clock customer support. While other email security solutions put the responsibility of setup, maintenance and system monitoring into the hands of the administrator - requiring them to fully understand how email security works, the implications of enabling and disabling a setting or filter, and what changes may be necessary to take full advantage of the protection offered - we assume these responsibilities for our clients, serving as the front line of defense against cyber thieves. We build on the protection our solution provides, becoming a permanent extension of the client's technical team. Our professional security engineers consider the individual risks our clients face and develop and implement a strategy specific to them. This involves identifying the individuals within an organization who are most likely to be targeted in an attack, and closely monitoring them to watch for spear phishing attempts and other highly targeted threats. 

We acknowledge that SMBs face many of the same risks and share many of the same needs as large corporations - and require the same caliber of technology to remain secure. Our unique open-source development approach provides us with access to tools and resources from a vibrant global community, which our expert engineers have used to make affordable, enterprise-grade protection available to businesses of all sizes.

Guardian Digital security experts are there to assist you from the start and on an ongoing basis - quickly and seamlessly integrating our platform with your systems, taking time to learn about your business’s operations and key assets, customizing our security suite to meet your company’s individual needs, performing continual system monitoring and maintenance and answering any questions you may have. With Guardian Digital, expert, attentive support is only a phone call, text or email away. Other key benefits of securing your business email with Guardian Digital EnGarde Cloud Email Security include:

• Keeps you ahead of phishing, ransomware and other persistent and emerging threats with real-time malicious URL protection
• Protects sensitive information and prevents email fraud with layered sender authentication protocols 
• Fortifies cloud email against credential phishing and account takeovers

In the context of this heightened email threat landscape, implementing managed supplementary email security defenses pays for itself in preventing a potential cyber attack or breach. Without effective security defenses in place accompanied by the expert services required to take full advantage of this technology, business owners are leaving the future of their company on the line. Now is the time to ask yourself - can I afford to not make email security a priority?

Ready to partner with an industry leader in securing your users, your data and your business for the future now? Let’s get in touch>