Kaspersky Lab recently ran the numbers on email SPAM and found that more than 70% of email sent in Q2 was unwanted junk, a 4.2% increase from first quarter. While many of these were typical advertising or click-through junk, the most lucrative SPAM was the infectious kind; after all, a system compromised by malware is much more rewarding than the commission from a Viagra advertisement click-through.
As usual, most of these malware links and infectious attachments were sent to corporate accounts and, according to the study, “absolutely all of these types of emails were disguised as auto-replies, i.e., delivery failure notifications, or notifications of the arrival of an email, fax, or scan.” It’s exactly these prime examples of social engineering that can sometimes trick even aware email users if worded correctly.
While SPAM filtering systems are continuously becoming more aggressive and better at catching these unwanted emails, overzealous SPAM traps can often catch critical emails in their filters. This is particularly true in industries that use the same wording as many SPAM messages. The healthcare industry, the financial sector, casinos and legal firms are all at a particularly high risk of losing critical emails during the filtering process. Equally unfortunate is the need in all of these industries to receive every single email, every single time. Legal firms can’t simply amp up a SPAM filter and hope that their court times and client correspondence aren’t lost. And in the financial industry a simple misfiled email can lead to actual losses and angry clients. But what’s the alternative? Dealing with the mess of email SPAM by hand is a time consuming process that, depending on the industry, requires a full time employee and can be incredibly tedious.
So the big question is: How does an enterprise ensure that they never miss an important email, while still filtering out the wealth of SPAM that comes with it? All without sacrificing productivity?
The trick comes down to Sendio’s trusted email communities. Unlike traditional SPAM filters which try to block malicious and annoying messages one by one, trusted email communities approach email security from the opposite direction. Instead of focusing on blocking loads of SPAM, why not just focus on the emails that should be allowed through and simply block everything else? Sendio allows enterprises to both virtually eradicate unwanted emails and still ensure that crucial messages are never lost. It’s a system that many financial firms, healthcare enterprises and legal offices are turning to to ensure that important emails are always delivered.
Sure there might be more SPAM than ever according Kaspersky Lab, but isn’t it nice to know there is also a simple solution right around the corner?
