Secure your email communications with AI cybersecurity

Email is still the leading business communication tool, and its continued success over the years makes it a natural target for fraudulent cybercrime activity. Pretty much every interaction nowadays requires the provision of an email address - whether for a one-off online purchase, creating an account, or receiving a proof of purchase digital receipt.

As such email addresses are widely accessible, and companies that gather and sell tailored emails for digital marketing activity continue to thrive. Our inboxes are full of unsolicited communications, and whilst we all have periodic ‘unsubscribe fests’ where we remove permissions to be contacted, the sheer volume and variety of emails received creates a fertile environment for deception and fraud on a massive scale.

Human vulnerabilities, mistakes, and employee negligence are generally beyond the reach of IT departments, and they all present criminals with ongoing opportunities for deception and fraud. Cyber threats and scams continue to evolve in sophistication and the growth in hybrid workstyles increases the scope for fraudulent activity.

Even the most ‘tech savvy’ email suspicious individuals will occasionally receive a message and wonder if it is genuine or not. Criminals operate a ‘numbers game’ and bank on a small number of people letting down their guard, for several reasons, and clicking on links or attachments that open a backdoor to enterprise IT environments and systems.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) solutions are bolstering organisational security through smarter, faster detection and protection from email-based cybercrime - improving business continuity and preserving brand credibility.

AI solutions are programmed to understand and “mimic” human behaviour, and by processing vast amounts of information and previous incident data sets, they identify current and development threats in real time. And as they act on their own with no need for human intervention, they provide a highly effective response to cyber threats on a 24/7 basis.

AI does not suffer from human weaknesses, it never tires, is distracted, or negligent, and the system is always on and learning - recording details of every email across an organisation. A profile of workforce communication patterns is learned, creating a baseline of employee behaviour against which constant reviews take place. As the solution learns the organisation’s behaviours and trends, it creates an identity graph that stores information about relationships and connections between all senders and recipients of emails. It understands what ‘normal’ behaviour is, and can rapidly detect anomalies, becoming more effective and powerful over time - and in contrast to traditional ‘point’ security services, the cloud-based solution does not become obsolete or need regular updating.

Sure’s Mimecast CyberGraph solution will:

• Limit the intelligence gathering by cybercriminals to plan a highly targeted attack.
• Helps prevent disclosure of potentially exploitable system vulnerabilities.
• Detect & mitigate sophisticated, highly targeted email threats.
• Dynamically strengthen protection without the burden of rules configuration.
• Engage at the point of risk with warning banners embedded in suspicious emails.
• Empower users and strengthen learning by gathering feedback on email perception.

AI security improves protection without adding to payroll costs, with estimates indicating that businesses can save more than 80% of the cost of manual security. Improvements to cybersecurity posture mean organisations are less attractive to cybercriminals and more attractive to prospective customers, and the improved resilience from early detection of threats improves business continuity and ensures consistent customer service.

Mimecast Cybergraph Explained