Email security has a very central role in cybersecurity and that is for a very valid and real reason, it is the most preferred attack vector for cybercriminals. Nearly 95% of all cyber-attacks are launched through email. Whether that is getting someone to visit a phishing site, download a compromised attachment, or give the sender access to their desktop, nearly anything can be done once the victim has opened the email. For any business, ensuring that the mailing platform is safe is crucial for the safety of all people involved.
Email Security
A few decades ago we saw the rise of anti-virus software which was an attempt to fight back from the dangerous email attachments that hackers and criminals were sent out to millions of people per day. While email is still the mode of transport for moving the attack to the victim, the attack itself has changed quite a lot. Today we are plagued with things like malware, spyware, and spam and hackers have devised clever ways through which they can get their dangerous assets to infiltrate the defense of a standard anti-virus.
The other factor that has changed the way we look at email security is the cloud. With cloud services, the entire backend of email management has transformed, and for criminals, this is a new ball game that can be exploited in even more ways.
Changes Due To The Cloud
The first service provider to shift email management from traditional servers to cloud-based servers was Microsoft when it launched the Microsoft Office 365 service in 2011, which is known today as Microsoft 365. What started as a dream project has over 300 million customers today and growing.
The biggest change with the development from Microsoft was that vendors that provided on-premises security for mail management now had to shift to cloud solutions to keep up with the demands of customers.
Further, for specific services such as Microsoft 365 security service providers had to access it via Microsoft application programming interface (API) to customize their offerings. Unlike traditional mail security solutions that acted as a firewall in front of the actual mail server, this new technique brought the user to the forefront.
Soon, we can see that cloud solution are far from being over and chances are that more and more things will be going to the cloud. Experts estimate that by 2024 the cloud-based SEG section will rise to over $2 billion in value. With such a high market capitalization there is no doubt that new players will be very interested in joining the party and existing players will want to cement their position.
For instance, Microsoft has hinted that they will be investing close to $20 billion over the next five years into this space, and for others that are invested in the industry, this could make it or break it situation. Currently, Microsoft only spends a quarter of that amount. However, rather than changing the entire email management system, the tech giant also has the option to simply make it harder for new entrants to compete in the industry.
In either case, the effects of these changes will be big and if anything doesn’t pan out, it will the user that loses their valuable data and no company will be held responsible.
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