{"id":4840,"date":"2019-09-25T16:09:36","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T20:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/?p=4840"},"modified":"2019-09-25T16:34:48","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T20:34:48","slug":"how-to-ensure-your-business-has-secure-email-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/how-to-ensure-your-business-has-secure-email-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Ensure Your Business Has Secure Email Solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Does your business rely on email as a primary communication method?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, it’s the standard method to message potential clients, investors, and employees. It lets you keep track of projects or send announcements en masse to your staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, without secure email solutions, it’s also open to hacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, small businesses risk losing an average of $188,000 per cyber attack<\/a>. Hackers could steal clients’ credit card information, leak your company’s future projects or financial plans, and take your staff’s passwords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t fret, though. We’re here to show you how to secure email and keep your business safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

1. Encrypt Emails<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first step is to always encrypt your email messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, this is not a complicated ordeal. Even standard email services like Gmail offer encryption options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Gmail, all you have to do is click on the “confidential mode” button on the bottom taskbar. This automatically encrypts the message, ensuring only the recipient can receive and read the content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also use encryption software like RMail or NeoCertified Secure Email. These programs not only encrypt the messages but also guarantee you get protection across multiple types of devices, like mobile devices and laptops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you run your site on WordPress, you may find suitable plugins like WP PGP Encrypted Emails. PM MailCrypt also works great and it functions as an anti-spam plugin, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Flush Out Old Email Messages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Make it a habit to delete old messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can make it mandatory if needed. In general, you should tell your employees to set their email up so that it automatically deletes old messages after 60 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is this important?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind that those old messages might have valuable data. This data could include client names, bank information, or financial transaction records. Deleting all this data is similar to the old-fashioned method of shredding old office documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, you don’t want to delete everything. Some old messages might contain training materials or reminders. These aren’t valuable to hackers but may prove necessary for your employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Enforce Stronger Passwords<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Did you know that “123456” and “qwerty” are among the most common passwords<\/a> and are also the easiest to hack? Other susceptible passwords are “password” and “111111.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you or your employees use any of these passwords, then it’s time to implement a few changes. Start implementing a mandate to utilize more complex passwords. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the military, most passwords use 12-16 characters. These passwords must include lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers, and special symbols. This type of complex password might be harder to memorize but they’re also less susceptible to hacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can utilize plugins that require this type of password, preventing employees from relying on six-character passwords that are easy to hack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some companies also make their employees change their password on a regular basis. You could require password changes every 60 or 90 days. Doing this ensures hackers won’t be able to utilize passwords even if they somehow get their hands on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. No Personal Use<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Don’t use your corporate email to message friends or send pictures with your spouse. Use them solely for work and nothing else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is important because if a hacker does break-in, they might be able to trace things like your personal IP address at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allows them to hack your personal data at home, such as your bank information or personal photos. You might have work files and client information on your devices at home and now they’ll get stolen, especially if your home doesn’t use the same type of high-level security your corporate email has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Avoid Public Devices and Wi-Fi Spots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You should also avoid using public devices to access work-related email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means avoid using computers at a library or a friend’s phone to check your company email. These devices might not have the same level of security your work computer utilizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On that same note, don’t access your corporate email while connected to a public Wi-Fi spot. If you have to open your work email while at the airport or at the mall, make sure to use a VPN and an encryption app to keep things private. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Invest in Cybersecurity Tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you can afford it, subscribe to get a VPN app installed on all your work computers and employee phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ensures hackers cannot directly trace their work and their email. VPNs encrypt data and even if a hacker gets in, they’ll only trace back to the VPN server IP address, not your actual IP address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t forget to invest in other tools like email plugins for better data encryption, anti-hacking software, anti-virus software, and anti-spam software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anti-spam is perhaps one of the most important because most hackers use spam email to break into a network. You’ll want software that identifies spam and gives out warnings before someone can open them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Call on Professionals for Help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Is your email compromised<\/a> already? Don’t fret yet \u2014 you can still resolve this issue before all your data gets leaked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of attempting to download software and fix the problem yourself, immediately call for professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts can help identify where the hacking began, what data got stolen, and what you can do to block the hackers so they can’t do any further damage. Professionals can also give you the right software and protocol to follow so this kind of problem never repeats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, hiring experts can cost a bit of cash, but this is still more affordable compared to the level of damage hackers can deal with your business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t Wait \u2014 Use Secure Email Solutions Now!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your company email contains a lot of sensitive data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without proper caution, hackers could get in and steal thousands of data, costing you money and client trust. Use secure email solutions and keep private data safe!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are even more safe practices to discover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feel free to read our other guides here to learn more helpful tips to optimize your company’s security measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does your business rely on email as a primary communication method? After all, it’s the standard method to message potential clients, investors, and employees. It lets you keep track of projects or send announcements en masse to your staff. However, without secure email solutions, it’s also open to hacking. In fact, small businesses risk losing an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4840"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4840"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4843,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4840\/revisions\/4843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}