Phishing is the most common and one of the costliest types of cyber threats facing UK businesses. With attackers using increasingly sophisticated tactics, both recipients and traditional spam filters struggle to distinguish between genuine and malicious emails. Mimecast protects against these threats by providing advanced email filtering, threat detection and continuity tools that stop phishing and malware before they reach your inbox. In this post, we explain how it works and the benefits for businesses.
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The growing phishing threat to businesses
According to the UK government’s most recent Cyber Security Breaches Survey, phishing is the most ‘prevalent and disruptive’ form of attack and is experienced by ‘85% of businesses’. While successful attacks can lead to ransomware infections and data breaches, business leaders also cite the costs of dealing with daily attacks as a growing issue.
This includes the time wasted dealing with large volumes of phishing emails and the costs of investigation and staff training. The survey also noted that ‘sophisticated methods, such as AI impersonation, were becoming mainstream.’
The use of AI allows attackers to target specific members of staff. This is done by impersonating suppliers, banks or other staff members, with AI tools used to mimic writing styles or even create deepfake voice messages. Staff are then tricked into giving away login credentials, sending data or even transferring funds to hackers’ accounts.
While the threat grows, basic spam filters that still rely on static rules and keyword detection struggle to identify today’s advanced and targeted attacks. They are also less likely to identify malicious attachments or embedded links in emails, leaving businesses at risk.
Make sure your business is fully protected against all types of threats. Read: Essential Security Measures to Protect Your Digital Operations
How Mimecast protects against phishing
Mimecast defends businesses by providing multi-layered, cloud-based protection that filters both incoming and outgoing mail. Moreover, it can integrate seamlessly with Microsoft 365, Exchange and most other mail servers, ensuring phishing emails are intercepted before they reach inboxes.
In contrast to traditional spam filters, Mimecast uses a combination of AI threat analysis, real-time scanning and behavioural monitoring to examine all elements of an email, including the sender’s domain, embedded URLs, attachments and even the content’s tone. This enables it to identify and block phishing and business email compromise (BEC) attacks, ransomware and other malicious threats.
Just as important for businesses, Mimecast also scans outbound messages, ensuring that no sensitive or confidential data leaves the organisation without authorisation.
Does your email hosting tick all your boxes? Read: Email Hosting Features Every Growing Business Needs – Are You Covered?
Key features that block malicious emails
Mimecast’s built-in security suite provides a range of advanced tools that prevent phishing attacks. These include:
- Targeted Threat Protection: Every email is scanned for potential threats using techniques such as URL rewriting and attachment sandboxing. This means links are checked in real time when clicked to ensure they lead to legitimate websites, while attachments are opened safely in isolated environments to identify and block ransomware or malware.
- Data Leak Prevention: Outgoing messages are automatically checked for sensitive content such as financial data, customer information or login details. If detected, Mimecast can block, quarantine or encrypt the email to prevent accidental or unauthorised disclosure.
- Anti-Spam and Malware Filtering: Incoming messages are analysed using AI-powered threat detection and real-time intelligence. This blocks 99% of spam, viruses and malware before they reach a user’s inbox.
- Confidential Data Protection: Sensitive emails are encrypted so that only authorised recipients can open them. This ensures confidential information remains secure during transmission while helping businesses comply with regulations like GDPR.
- Secure File Sharing: Large attachments, up to 2GB in size, can be sent directly through Microsoft Outlook without relying on insecure file-transfer methods. Mimecast keeps the files protected in transit and provides tracking to confirm delivery.
How Mimecast ensures email continuity and compliance
Beyond phishing prevention, Mimecast also helps businesses stay operational and compliant.
Continuity: Even if your primary mail server goes offline, Mimecast provides uninterrupted access to your emails, and you’ll continue to be able to send and receive messages. Once your server is back online, emails will automatically re-sync.
Archiving: Mimecast automatically stores inbound and outbound emails in a secure, cloud-based archive that meets GDPR and ISO compliance standards. The archive also serves as a backup in the event of data loss or ransomware.
Policy management: Admins can configure security, continuity and data protection policies from a centralised web-based dashboard. They can also generate detailed activity reports.
Is your business data GDPR compliant? Read: Why UK Businesses Are Moving Back to Local Hosting Providers
Key takeaways
- Phishing continues to be the number one cyber threat targeting UK businesses.
- Mimecast uses AI-enabled detection, sandboxing and URL rewriting to prevent malicious emails from reaching users.
- Its continuity and archiving features guarantee uptime and regulatory compliance.
- When integrated with business email hosting, businesses gain enterprise-grade protection, simplified management and UK-based support.
Conclusion
The growing sophistication of phishing attacks puts businesses at increased risk of data breaches, ransomware and hacking. Mimecast’s robust, multi-layered defence not only prevents phishing and data leaks; it also ensures email continuity and compliance with UK regulations.
If your business is looking to strengthen its security against email-based cyberattacks while also seeking to improve compliance and business continuity, visit our Mimecast Page for more details.
