![\"\"](\"https:\/\/email.uplers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/campaign-management.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nImpact of Data Breach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The\nbiggest impact of data breach is on the brand credibility. If the customer\u2019s\ninformation gets compromised, he gets apprehensive about identity theft and\nprefers not to share any information online. Before the personal information\ngot stolen, hardly 24%\nsurvey respondents<\/a> were concerned about identity theft.\nHowever, after an incident at Experian, 45% respondents expressed their concern\nfor identity theft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whenever you send an email, it is susceptible to hackers and malware. Email marketers should specifically consider this possibility as they are sending bulk emails. The four main threats involved in email marketing<\/a> are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Email scams lead to your\nemails landing in the spam folder and damage the subscriber\u2019s trust. To\novercome this issue, you should keep your emails relevant and authentic.\nPersonalize the emails with the subscriber\u2019s name and consider their age,\ngeographical location, interests, and preferences so that you can send targeted\nemails. It will increase your conversion rate by building a stronger rapport\nwith the customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, you should\nidentify scam replies to the marketing campaigns. There are instances when\nperpetrators of cyber crimes hack the email accounts of gullible subscribers\nand initiate cyber-attacks. Marketers should detect dubious activity like this\nand take measures to curb it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Malware consists of\nspyware, adware, keyloggers, ransomware, etc. These malwares can bring your\nmarketing campaign to a standstill. The real challenge is that hackers have\nfound ways to camouflage it. Malware could be disguised as an innocent-looking\nlink or download. You should take special measures to keep such activities\nunder check. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To initiate a phishing attack, hackers pose as customers or interested business partners. Eventually, they get access to details such as account recovery authentication. After they get the login credentials, they can harm your business. With the help of social engineering tactics, they can fake it as any trustworthy entity like corporate banks or credit card companies and target your email subscribers. Social engineering has advanced to the level where even CEOs fall prey to the phishing emails. This is known as whaling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you ever received an email that looks like it is sent from a company or brand, but it is actually sent by a cyber criminal? This is known as spoofing. In addition to emails, they also create similar looking landing pages<\/a>. Through these pages, they can get access to login information and payment information of the customers. It will ultimately tarnish your brand reputation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s take a look at some\nsuggesting features that will help you recognize a phishing or spoofed email. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you ever receive an\nemail with unreasonable spelling and grammatical mistakes, get extra cautious\nabout a phishing or spoofing attack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An email without any\npersonalization should certainly raise concern and make you suspicious of a cyber-attack.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cyber crime perpetrators\noften hide malicious links in hypertext within the email copy. To make sure\nthat the email is authentic, you should hover over the hyperlinked text. In\ncase the text and URL do not match, it is safe to assume that the email might\nredirect you to a malicious site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Emails that create a sense\nof urgency and ask for an immediate response or verification of information\nonline should raise doubt for phishing or spoofing attempt. Usually, urgent\nconcerns would be addressed over the phone and you should always confirm the\ncommunication on another channel to be doubly sure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Emails asking for confidential information or identity verification are likely to be phishing attack. In stark contrast to such cyber criminals, banks and other trustworthy organizations would never ask for any personal information through an email. <\/p>\n\n\n It\nis imperative to make your customers aware about the importance of email\nsecurity and keep them safe from any cyber attacks that could cost them their\npersonal information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\nare some security best practices that you should follow so that you can keep\nthe trust of your customers intact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whenever\na subscriber signs up to your email list, ask him or her to whitelist your\nemail address by adding your email address to the contact list. Doing so will\nensure that your emails do not end up in the spam or junk folders. Moreover, it\nwill show the recipients warnings in case they receive a spoofed email that\nseems to be sent from your company but is in fact, from senders who are not in\nthe address book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You\ncan prevent phishing attacks by authenticating your email before they land in\nthe recipient\u2019s inbox. With email authentication, you can make sure that the\nserver from which the email is sent holds the right to use the domain name\nincluded in the header of the email. It verifies that the sender is legitimate\nand ensures email security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Three\ncommonly used email authentication standards are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sender Policy Framework is\nan IP-based authentication solution that lets the domain owner mention the\nemail servers or IPs that are authorized to send messages according to the\ndomain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A cryptographic,\nsignature-based authentication standard, DKIM, enables the sender to take\nresponsibility for the message in such a way that the receiver can validate it.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n DMARC is the latest\nauthentication standard that works well for industries like financial services\nand health care that have sensitive subscriber information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nmost of the cases, combined usage of SPF and SKIM is effective but if you are\nlooking for additional security, we recommend you use DMARC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\nyour subscribers know that you or anyone from your company will never ask for\ntheir personal information via email or any other communication medium. Use\ndisclaimers in the email footer to convey this message so that they can\nrecognize spoofed emails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your\ncustomers might not have an idea about cyber attacks and how they work. Thus,\nit is advisable to prepare them by not only using disclaimers but also with the\nhelp of a campaign on email security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If\nyou are sending emails with the customer\u2019s address, phone numbers, last four digits\nof bank account number or credit card number, you should encrypt the emails so\nthat no one else can read it, barring the email recipient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On sending an email, the information gets afloat on the World Wide Web and unauthorized individuals get an opportunity to attack it. To mitigate such risks<\/a>, you must send emails over Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). To get started, simply install a VPN app<\/a> on your device to ensure encrypted communication and safer browsing..<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat are the Risks to Email Subscribers?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Scams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Malware<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Phishing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/email.uplers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Web-Banner-J_V1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n4. Spoofing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
a. Full of grammatical errors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
b. No personalization<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
c. False hyperlinks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
d. Unjustified urgency <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
e. Request for confidential details<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/email.uplers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Email-Campaign-Audit.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nHow to Enhance Your Email Security<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Get your email address whitelisted<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2. Authenticate the email<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
i. Sender Policy Framework<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
ii. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
iii. Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
3. Include disclaimers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4. Educate the customers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
5. Encrypt emails<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
6. Connect to a VPN server<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
7. Purchase the right software<\/h2>\n\n\n\n