Some widely used e-mail security systems are failing to deliver protection against e-mails that contain dangerous file types, malware attachments and/or spam, according to UK-based Mimecast, which also maintains an Australian presence.
According to a Mimecast Email Security Risk Asessment (ESRA) report, its staff found a “staggering” increase in business e-mail attacks. These included e-mails containing dangerous file types, malware attachments and spam being delivered to users’ inboxes.
Office systems fail to keep up
Also worrying was a 269pc rise in business e-mail compromise (BEC) attacks, many of which can easily evade traditional e-mail security systems.
And it seems some well-known office systems are failing to keep up to the task of identifying and stopping BEC attacks. Mimecast notes a 2019 Osterman Research report which concluded that Microsoft Office 365 alone, “will not fully meet many organisations’ requirements”.
The ESRA report found 28.7 million spam e-mails, 28,808 malware attachments and 28,726 dangerous files types were all missed by incumbent providers and delivered to users’ inboxes, producing an overall “false negative” rate of 11pc of inspected e-mails.
