Email Security — stopping the attack vector behind 91% of breaches.
Over 91% of successful cyberattacks begin with a phishing email. SignalPoint's email security service deploys layered technical controls against phishing, BEC fraud, and malicious content — backed by 24/7 monitoring and incident response when something gets through.
Email is the primary attack surface for most SMBs — and the one most organizations underinvest in defending.
Email security is not a single control — it's a layered stack of technical and procedural defenses against the most exploited attack vector in cybersecurity. Most businesses have some form of spam filtering, but sophisticated phishing campaigns, business email compromise, and adversary-in-the-middle attacks are designed to bypass basic filters and reach their targets.
Technical controls we implement
- DMARC, DKIM, and SPF: Email authentication protocols that prevent attackers from sending email that appears to come from your domain. Without these, anyone can send a convincing email claiming to be from your CEO. DMARC enforcement dramatically reduces impersonation attacks against your customers and partners.
- Anti-phishing filtering: Link analysis, attachment sandboxing, and sender reputation analysis deployed at the mail gateway to block known phishing campaigns before they reach inboxes.
- Attachment sandboxing: Suspicious attachments are detonated in an isolated environment before delivery — detecting malware in Office macros, PDFs, and executables that signature-based filters miss.
- BEC detection rules: Behavioral analysis of email patterns to detect financial fraud attempts — unusual payment requests, impersonation of executives, anomalous wire transfer instructions.
- Email forwarding rule monitoring: Attackers who compromise email accounts frequently create hidden forwarding rules to maintain access after password changes. We monitor for unauthorized rule creation.
When email security controls fail
No email security stack stops 100% of phishing. When a phishing email reaches an employee — and inevitably some will — the response capability matters as much as the prevention. SignalPoint's 24/7 monitoring includes email security alert review, and our incident response capability activates immediately when a phishing-related compromise is detected. We coordinate credential resets, session termination, and forensic review of the affected account.
Common questions.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that prevents your domain from being used to send phishing emails to your customers, partners, and employees. Without DMARC enforcement, anyone can send email appearing to come from your domain. Most cyber insurers now require DMARC implementation. Yes, you need it.
Technical controls catch many BEC attempts — impersonation of your domain, known-bad sender infrastructure, and some behavioral patterns. But sophisticated BEC actors use compromised accounts (legitimate senders) and carefully crafted emails that bypass filters. The most effective BEC defense combines technical controls with training (teaching employees to verify unusual financial requests by phone) and 24/7 monitoring to detect account compromises early.