06 Nov 80 per cent of organisations experienced email-related attacks

OPSWAT released the 2024 Report: Email Security Threats Against Critical Infrastructure Organizations.

This research was conducted with Osterman Research, surveyed IT and security leaders working within critical infrastructure industries and revealed that 80 per cent of organisations experienced an email-related security breach over the past year and 63.3 per cent of respondents acknowledge that their email security approach needs to be improved.

Email is the primary attack vector for cyber threats with attackers exploiting vulnerabilities through phishing attempts, malicious links, and harmful attachments.

Once infiltrated, these threats can cascade through networks, jeopardising both IT and operational technology (OT) environments. Alarmingly, more than half of respondents believed email messages and attachments to be benign by default, failing to realize inherent email risks.

“This survey findings emphasize the need to adopt a zero-trust mindset. The prevalence of email-related breaches poses a significant threat to critical infrastructure organizations, necessitating a shift to a stronger, prevention-based perimeter defence strategy against established communication and data exchange channels,” commented Yiyi Miao, Chief Product Officer at OPSWAT.