Attackers defeat SEGs using… SEGs
Email security tools such as Secure Email Gateways (SEGs) often encode URLs that are embedded in emails. This enables the security appliance to scan the URL before the recipient visits the website.
But when SEGs detect URLs in emails that have already been SEG encoded they don't scan the URL. A new report from Cofense reveals that threat actors are making use of this to avoid detection.
Thunderbird 128 'Nebula' is here -- download the latest version of the free email tool now!
Mozilla has unveiled Thunderbird 128.0, around a year to the day after the last major release of its email client. Thunderbird 128.0, codenamed Nebula, isn’t just a major new release in its own right, it also heralds a new era for Thunderbird.
Going forward, Thunderbird will adopt the same monthly-release cycle as Firefox, its browser sibling. As a result, Thunderbird 128.0 comes in two major flavors: regular release, and ESR for those who prefer less frequent major updates.
URL protection services used to mask phishing attacks
Cybercriminals are abusing legitimate URL protection services to hide malicious URLs in phishing emails, according to a new Threat Spotlight from Barracuda Networks.
Researchers have observed phishing attacks taking advantage of three different URL protection services to mask their phishing URLs. The services are provided by trusted, legitimate brands. To date, these attacks have targeted hundreds of companies.
Poor DMARC implementation leaves companies vulnerable to threats
Only 61 percent of manufacturing businesses have adopted DMARC, with 19 percent of the total manufacturers analyzed having adopted the most stringent 'p=reject' DMARC policy.
New research from email security provider EasyDMARC, which surveyed almost 5,000 global manufacturing companies, finds 43 percent of those with DMARC use a low-security DMARC policy that allows suspicious emails to reach inboxes but enables reporting on such activity.
The prompt plays a critical role in crafting emails with LLMs
In the realm of digital communication, crafting the perfect email is both an art and a science, especially when the goal is to convert that email into a meeting or a tangible outcome. With the advent of Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), the stakes have been raised, offering unprecedented opportunities for personalization, efficiency, and effectiveness in email outreach. At the heart of this revolution lies a seemingly simple yet profoundly impactful element: the prompt.
A prompt, in the context of LLMs, is more than just a starting point for generating text; it's the steering wheel that guides the AI in a specific direction, ensuring that the output aligns with the sender's intentions, tone, and objectives. The importance of prompts becomes even more pronounced when considering the goal of converting an email into a meeting -- a task that requires precision, personalization, and persuasion. Prompts provide:
Your company needs a BEC policy and five other email security trends
Hardly a week goes by without news of another email-based attack via phishing or Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam. These types of attacks can cause a great deal of damage to infrastructure and an organization’s image, whether it is a large enterprise, a small-medium business (SMB) or even much smaller retailers. The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) reports that the average financial loss per BEC attack is $125,000 and last year estimated the Business Email fraud industry to be valued at a whopping $50 billion.
These attacks are increasingly creative, and typically involve impersonation of someone such as the head of an organization or finance. If someone responds on behalf of the executive, they could unknowingly give away the keys to the kingdom, causing significant losses. With that in mind, let’s review some of the larger email security trends.
Malicious emails increase over 300 percent
The last six months has seen a 341 percent increase in malicious emails, including an alarming spike in phishing, BEC, and other message-based attacks fueled by the continued growth of generative AI.
The latest State of Phishing Report from SlashNext finds that since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, there has been a 4,151 percent increase in malicious emails sent.
Microsoft offers temporary workaround for 'Microsoft Outlook was not able to create a message with restricted permission' error
Over the last few months, there have been numerous complaints from users of Microsoft Outlook that they are unable to reply to encrypted emails. An error message that reads "Microsoft Outlook was not able to create a message with restricted permission" is displayed.
While Microsoft has acknowledged the issue in the desktop email client, the company is yet to fix it properly. There is, however, a temporary workaround that can be used to make it possible to reply to encrypted emails.
US is top source of spam emails
The latest Email Threat Trends report from VIPRE Security Group identifies the US as the top source of spam emails globally, followed by the UK, Ireland, and Japan. The US, UK, and Canada are the top three countries most subjected to email-based attacks.
Looking at targets, the manufacturing, government, and IT sectors are the most attacked by malicious actors. In Q1 2024, the manufacturing sector suffered 43 percent of email-based attacks, with government (15 percent) and IT (11 percent) trailing well behind. This is a change from Q1 2023, when attackers targeted the financial (25 percent), healthcare (22 percent), and education (15 percent) sectors most often.
New solution uses AI to target spam and phishing
Since the launch of ChatGPT there has been a surge in the number of phishing emails as AI makes it easier to create convincing lures.
Email security specialist SlashNext is fighting AI with AI thanks to the launch of a new generative AI large language model (LLM) to deliver accuracy and precision in spam detection, with claimed near-zero false positive rates.
Email still the most popular phishing technique even on mobile
Most incidents of phishing or spoofing on smartphones still happen via email, according to MEF's (Mobile Ecosystem Forum) 9th Annual Trust Study.
The report shows 52 percent of users reporting personal experience of data harm via this channel. Surprisingly, 39 percent of those users still took no preventative measures to protect their online data.
Proton Mail launches Dark Web Monitoring to alert users to leaks
One of the most common forms of cyberattack is credential stuffing, using exposed details on different sites to exploit the fact that people frequently reuse passwords.
Proton Mail is introducing a new Dark Web Monitoring feature that will alert customers if their credentials are exposed on the dark web, where stolen emails and credentials get bought and sold.
Auto industry is prime target for email attacks
The automotive industry has become a popular target for business email compromise and vendor email compromise attacks, according to new research from Abnormal Security.
Between September 2023 and February 2024, BEC attacks against businesses in the automotive industry increased by 70.5 percent. Over the same period 63 percent of Abnormal Security customers in the automotive industry experienced at least one VEC attack.
Microsoft is great, but not enough for email security
Microsoft 365 is the default software in SMEs, and understandably. The software offers a comprehensive set of productivity tools; flexible, scalable, and affordable licensing options, and compliance and security capabilities. However, given the ever-growing and persistent threat of cyberattacks, for email security, the standard security safeguards offered are insufficient.
Analysis of over 1 billion emails worldwide shows that emails are the preferred vehicle of cybercriminals. Email-delivered malware remains a favorite, increasing by 276 percent between January and December of last year. Additionally, attachments are growing as a threat. In Q4 of 2023, EML attachments increased 10-fold. Criminals are sending malicious payloads via EML files because they get overlooked when attached to the actual phishing email, which comes out clean.
Businesses still not ready for new DMARC rules
Despite them being widely publicized, Google and Yahoo's new email rules still risk catching out many businesses.
New research from EasyDMARC finds that, despite the email providers warning customers that failure to implement the DMARC security standard could lead to diminishing email deliverability, only 37 percent of IT decision-makers have rolled out the security measure.
Recent Headlines
Most Commented Stories
Betanews Is Growing Alongside You
Only a fool still uses Windows 7
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.