Email fraud biggest risk for professionals with 60 pct businesses exposed to it: Survey

Email frauds have emerged as the biggest threat for working professionals with almost 60 per cent businesses believing that they are exposed to it, a new survey has revealed. These threats are also a result of the crisis created by coronavirus. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the discussions around the outbreak and tricking users to click on malicious links or attachments in emails which has even resulted in an increase in phishing attacks, a survey by Hiver, a leading email collaboration solution for teams. 

The survey concluded that companies have become more cognizant of the increasing threat from email fraud, and an astonishing 94% acknowledged that their company is likely to be targeted by email fraud over the next one year. The survey found that over 90% CIOs believe their organisations are exposed to email threats at least once a month. 

About 46 per cent respondents believe that the increase in cyber-attacks is because hackers were becoming more advanced and they were also growing more effective at evading traditional security tools. 

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A similar percentage of respondents said it was because attackers are constantly changing their tactics and given the emergence of new diverse and advanced threats, it is difficult to secure organisations against such unknown threats. For instance, the coronavirus related attacks use common phishing tactics, but are using the pandemic as a hook to scam users and capitalize on the fear and uncertainty of the intended victims. 

The survey revealed that a sweeping majority, over 90% of the IT leaders, rely on technologies and automated tools to secure email and remove threats. When asked about preventive measures being taken to protect the organisation against email fraud, surprisingly hardly any of the respondents mentioned undertaking training of end-users to increase awareness of email threats. 

The survey was conducted over 100 IT professionals in senior management roles across different industries to gain insights into the kind of cybersecurity protocols and measures they are taking to protect their organizations from email fraud during COVID-19 and beyond.