Email is one of the most popular modes of entry for hackers. It offers a way to get directly in front of millions of people with the click of a mouse. And a cleverly disguised email can mean a user mistakenly downloads a dangerous attachment or clicks a link to a malicious website.
Securing email properly is a challenge for many small businesses. It’s often a “Goldilocks” dilemma; some email security software is too strong and blocks legitimate emails in addition to spam and phishing, and some software is too weak, not properly blocking the threats it should.
At Unity IT, we’ve been searching to find an email security software that was “just right.” One that was powerful enough to block known and new threats, while allowing through the legitimate emails that companies need to operate daily.
We finally found that perfect email security solution in the form of Proofpoint Essentials, a platform that offers enterprise-class cybersecurity for small businesses.
In this article, we’ll take a look at dangers that can attack your technology infrastructure by slipping into an email inbox, and go over why Proofpoint Essentials is so exciting and what types of features you can expect to keep your email secure and protect your network.
Why is Email Security So Important for Small Businesses?
Hackers are counting on small businesses having less IT security than larger businesses, and many of them go after that “low hanging fruit.” They send millions of emails out daily just waiting for someone to take their bait.
66% of malware is installed via a malicious email attachment.
Phishing emails continue to be the #1 cause of data breaches, taking down large and small businesses alike. This means that reliable email security should be a #1 priority for companies that want to protect themselves and their digital assets.
Types of attacks that can be lurking in every employee’s email inbox are:
Viruses
Ransomware
Spyware
Malware
Remote control scripts
Spam
Just one accidental click can mean thousands of dollars in costs, lost productivity, and missed business opportunities, something that hits small businesses harder than large corporations.
How to Protect Your Business with Proofpoint Essentials
What makes Proofpoint Essentials so exciting to our Unity IT Cybersecurity Team is that it provides people-centric protection and is geared specifically to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses.
Many email security tools miss the mark because they’re not addressing the biggest security risk when it comes to email… people. Proofpoint Essentials put user protection at the forefront and integrates with popular office tools to further streamline email security.
Benefits of this email security program include the following.
Powerful Enterprise-Class Security Tools
Small businesses care just as much as larger companies about their data security, and Proofpoint Essentials gives them the same tools for less that larger corporations use. Including features like:
Enhanced cybersecurity with spam and phishing detection
Dynamic sandboxing of URLs and dangerous attachments
Policy-enforced encryption and data loss prevention
Social media account protection (an increasingly important feature!)
Easy to Use with Automatic Reporting
Unity IT makes it easy for businesses to implement Proofpoint Essentials. It’s a cloud-based solution with no hardware or software to install. Updates are made automatically, so the system always has the most recent threat information and intuitive reporting gives you both a big picture and granular breakdown of threats to your system.
The simple to use interface offers:
Visibility into threats targeting your business
Robust filter rules engine for both incoming and outgoing email
Per-user controls and quarantine access
Tools to Keep Your Business Going
Most companies rely on critical email communications on a daily basis, and when there’s an interruption, it can mean lost business. Proofpoint was designed with business continuity in mind and offers the following features to ensure your communications keep flowing.
24/7 emergency inbox, providing users email access even when the normal mail environment is unavailable
Instant replay to send or resend messages to your messaging server for 30 days
Email spooling and failover, which captures emails that can’t be delivered so they’re not lost
Keep Email Archived for a Decade
Trying to keep all those emails and attachments you get every year on your computer can mean software problems and a slow device. With Proofpoint Essentials, you have a secure cloud-based storage system for all emails and attachments for 10 years.
This archive is user searchable and exportable, and you can easily forward an archived email back to your inbox if you need it.
Works with Office 365
Proofpoint Essentials works alongside the popular Office 365 cloud-based office productivity software. Ways that it compliments this office suite includes:
Protecting against both malware and non-malware threats
Preventing impostor email threats
Sandboxing malicious URLS and attachments
Protecting against compliance violations and data loss
Providing 24/7 emergency inbox in the event of an email outage
Take a Test Drive of Proofpoint Essentials Today!
Would you like to see what this state-of-the-art, small business friendly email security platform can do for you? Unity IT can give you a complimentary test drive of Proofpoint Essentials so you can see how simple and powerful it is.
Contact us your local Fresno IT company today for better email security. Cal 559-297-1007 or request a free consultation online.
