Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro said that its Cloud App Security detected and blocked 3.4 million high-risk email threats in 2017. It also managed to detect over 50,000 ransomware and 3,000 BEC threats in the last three quarters of 2017. The Trend Micro Cloud App Security solution is an API-based service protecting the Microsoft Office 365 Exchange Online, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint Online platforms.
Company claimed that more than 2, 60,000 unknown email threats were also blocked by the pre-execution machine learning and sandbox engines. In the same period, 2.8 million known malicious links as well as over 190,000 phishing emails were blocked. In 2017, data from Trend Micro Smart Protection Network security infrastructure revealed that 94 percent of ransomware threats were found in email, while business email compromise (BEC) scams showed a 106 percent increase from the first half of the year to the second.
“Given that email is still the most common infection vector for malware threats, organizations need multiple layers of protection to combat email-borne threats that continue to evolve and spread. Email threats are advanced, pervasive, and costly, but with the combination of workforce, cybersecurity awareness and solutions like Trend Micro Cloud App Security, they can be stopped before causing havoc,” said Mr. Nilesh Jain, Vice President – South East Asia and India, Trend Micro.
“Using a multi-layered identification process for transferring funds can mitigate BEC scams. IT professionals and organization employees should be trained to look out for BEC indicators and practice proper email protocols such as inspecting inbound and outbound messages. Stopping email-borne ransomware from infecting endpoints and systems is also possible by adopting best practices against spam emails,” he said.
Cybersecurity firm suggests few recovery steps that can be followed when cybercriminals have already successfully infiltrated the organisation's network. “As the hackers use different kinds of social engineering tactics to coerce potential victims into downloading files or giving out sensitive information, it is important to educate employees on how to avoid phishing attacks. Simple steps, such as bookmarking trusted websites and never clicking on links accompanied by suspicious promises, go a long way. Network administrators should ensure that antispam filters, including policy management and threat detection level thresholds, are properly configured,” said Trend Micro.
Company informed that the Trend Micro Cloud App Security acts as a second layer of protection after email and files have passed through Office 365 scanning. It aims to counter the proliferation of email threats by using machine learning and sandbox malware analysis for ransomware, BEC, and other advanced threats. Cloud App Security can detect both known and unknown email threats that attempt to infiltrate cloud services.
