IT Email Security

Many cyber threats target email because nearly everyone in developed countries uses email and every email account has extensive connections to other people. A successful breach of one email account can result in an eventual breach of thousands or even millions of other accounts. View our easy to use email security guide below; then discover how you can transform your employees from your weakest link to your first line of defense through security training.

The ITeam Email Security Guide

Follow these steps before you click:

  • Is the sender unfamiliar to you?
  • When you hover over the email address, is it different than what appears in the header?
  • Is the email out of character?
  • Is the email from someone outside of your organization and asking you to do something outside of your typical role?
  • Is the sender a stranger?
  • Does the email include a link or attachment?

  • Is the email being sent to multiple people that you don’t know?
  • Was the email sent to multiple people within your organization who typically would not be cc’d on the same messages?
  • Is your name spelled wrong?

  • Does the subject line differ from the contents of the email?
  • Does the email subject line have language quirks that seem out of place?
  • Does the subject line say something that makes you panic or feel like something has gone wrong?
  • Does it imply you must take action immediately?

  • Was the email sent at an odd hour compared to when you received it?

  • Is there a hyperlink included in the email?
  • When you hover over (but don’t click) on the link, does it go to a different website?
  • Does the hyperlink look similar to a legitimate website but differ slightly?

  • Is there an attachment?
  • Does the attachment end in anything other than .txt?
  • Was the attachment unexpected?
  • Did it ask you to enable macros?
phishing emails