Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks are one of the most damaging cyber-crimes and have been on the rise in recent years. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report for 2022, BEC attacks resulted in over $2.7 billion in losses …and that's just what was reported to the FBI. Although it is impossible to stop every type of attack, there is one simple step that can be taken to mitigate your risk: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
What is multi-factor authentication? Simply put, it allows you to present two (or more) pieces of evidence when logging into an account. This evidence could be one of the following: something you know (password), something you have (smart phone), or something you are (fingerprint). MFA requires you to use evidence from more than one of these categories. If you have ever used an ATM, you have used multi-factor authentication, using your debit card to access funds and your PIN number to approve a withdrawal.
So, why should you enforce multi-factor authentication in your business emails? While MFA should be enforced on as many accounts as possible, we think it's most important to secure your business email since you probably conduct a lot of sensitive information through your email. Meaning without enforced MFA, requests to your financial institution, scanned checks sent to your accountant, and confidential employee information (PII) will be left available to a hacker if your security credentials are compromised. As more businesses turn to programs like OneDrive and SharePoint for cloud-based file storage, those valuable backup files could become vulnerable as well.
Are you ready to enforce multi-factor authentication into your business emails? Where do you start? Planning and coordinating multi-factor authentication throughout your organization is paramount to ensuring proper cybersecurity protection. This means taking consideration of all your systems that currently use email (such as copiers or CRM systems that link emails to your employees and clients) and checking that they will still work afterwards. Checking these systems alone can be difficult, which is why Copy Systems, Inc. offers quality SMART solutions to support your company integration. From Managed Print to content management, trust in Copy Systems to put your security first.