Less than one percent of UK charities are protected against email fraud

Charities, just like other organizations, rely heavily on email for their communications, but a new study reveals that in the UK most are not protected against the risks of fraudulent emails and phishing attacks.

The study by platform-as-a-service provider Red Sift analyzed the email domains of over 78,000 charities and found that under one percent have adequate protection using DMARC authentication.

The Top 100 Charities fare a little better with five percent adoption, however, none are blocking unauthorized email. This is despite a UK government report earlier this year showing the most common attacks are delivered via fraudulent emails.

To help UK charities protect themselves against email-based cyberattacks, Red Sift is making its email cyber security product, OnDMARC, available free to all registered UK charitable organizations. The solution enables users to quickly and easily deploy DMARC, a robust security protocol for protecting email, blocking phishing attacks, increasing deliverability of authorized emails and protecting their brand. DMARC protection ensures that only trustworthy sources can send email on behalf of your business. Cyber criminals are also discouraged from targeting organizations that have DMARC protection.

"Fraudulent emails and phishing attacks pose a serious risk to businesses and the data that they hold," says Rahul Powar, Red Sift’s CEO. "As such it is very concerning that UK charities, that make huge social and economic contributions despite often working with limited resources, are so exposed to these potentially hugely damaging attacks. By offering OnDMARC to all UK charities, we are taking a key step towards a more secure digital landscape for everyone."

Charities can find out more and sign up for the scheme on the OnDMARC website.

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