Email Services & Email Security Issues

Email is, without a doubt, one of the most significant tools on the internet today, and it is utilized in formal/informal everyday conversations. Because we use email in almost every aspect of our lives, its convenience has prompted concerns about email security. Email, which stands for Email services, is increasingly targeted by cyber threats, leading to significant financial losses, operational disruptions, and reputational damage. Below are data-backed examples illustrating these impacts:

• In 2023, Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks resulted in reported losses of nearly $3 billion, marking a 7% increase from the previous year.
• A 2023 survey revealed that 53% of manufacturing and production organizations experienced downtime and business disruption due to email security breaches.
• In 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) suffered a data breach where a former employee transferred the confidential information of approximately 256,000 consumers to a personal email account, leading to significant reputational harm for the agency.

These examples underscore the critical need for robust email security measures to mitigate financial, operational, and reputational risks.

1-Why are emails so important in our daily lives?

a- Easy, free, and fast:

To send an email, all you need is a digital device, such as a smartphone or computer, and a legitimate account with one of the email service providers, such as Hotmail or Gmail.

b- The efficient way of documentation and archiving:

Email is one of the greatest ways to organize and document text-based communications. It can also be utilized as a massive database that can be accessed at any time.

c- Manager assistant:

An email is an indispensable tool in any business or organization. It assists administrators in managing and scheduling duties, allowing for more structured work.

d- Efficient marketing tool:

Email marketing services are widely regarded as the most effective method of marketing. They outperform paid search, social media, and television advertising. To get the most out of these campaigns, using an email finder can help you reach verified contacts and improve engagement. Additionally, placing email signup forms on key pages of your website is a powerful way to organically grow your subscriber list and capture interest from engaged visitors. As a result, email security is critical because it contains all of our crucial and useful data.

2- Email services are classified into two types:

a- Web-based email service:

Your emails are stored on another device on the internet in this type of service, and all you need is a free account with one of the providers and an internet connection. Having your emails stored on the internet allows you to access them from any location by simply connecting to the internet. This is typically managed by an email hosting provider that handles the storage and delivery of your messages.

b- Client-based email service:

The primary difference here is that your emails are stored on a server rather than being placed on the web so that you may reread them when you don’t have an internet connection. In contrast to web-based email services, you must have an application connected to the service and manage the configurations, and you can only view your email from your device. Furthermore, because client-based email services use a two-tier design, security risks are reduced when compared to web-based mail services.

POP3: POP3 stands for ‘Post Office Protocol 3’. In POP3, emails are stored on a server and are downloaded continuously to your computer so you don’t have to have an internet connection for reading your emails. Then, they are deleted automatically from the server and kept only on your device.

IMAP: IMAP stands for ‘Internet Message Access Protocol’. We can say that it is a combination of POP3 and web-based email service, where your emails are saved on service and can be accessed via a proper application that keeps a synchronized copy of them on the computer.

MAPI: MAPI stands for, ‘Messaging Application Programming Interface’. It is an email service that is managed by Microsoft Exchange Server. It offers the service of managing your emails including calendar and contact information and can be fully accessed from multiple devices.

3- What Are the Different Types of Email Security Threats?

While email services make it simple and free for users to do their jobs, they also have certain negative aspects. It is impossible to provide services that are completely pure, clear, and safe. Email services, like any other internet-based service, may be hacked and cause harm to users’ information and privacy. In this essay, we will discuss some of the most common email security concerns that can harm consumers using email services:

a. Malware:

Malware, often known as malicious software, is a harmful application or file that can disrupt your device’s performance or cause data damage without your permission. Malware can comprise viruses, trojan horses, worms, spyware, and keyloggers, making email security vulnerable. The makers of this malicious software typically use email to secure delivery to the intended victim. The threat of such malicious software is its capacity, if properly exploited, to seize control of the device or possibly the entire network by applying privilege escalation to the system.

An example of the danger of malware on email services is what happened last month in Virginia State Police, USA when a malware attack caused the agency to shut down its email service for 2 days and disabled the ability to update the ‘Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Children Registry’ website.

b. Phishing & Spam:

Spam is an abbreviation for unwanted, irritating, and electronic junk mail. Spam emails are sent at random to several recipients. Spams can significantly diminish a person’s or company’s productivity and can be transmitted directly from spammers, people who send spam emails, or other email accounts that fall victim to their schemes. Spam is not just a nuisance, but it may also pose a threat to email security, especially if it is a phishing email.

Phishing emails are a type of spam that attempts to obtain personal information from the victim by convincing him or her that the email is legitimate. A spammer, for example, could create a standard version of your bank account’s online page and suggest that you log in using your personal information. When you do this, the phisher gains access to your personal information, including your ID number and password, which might result in the loss of your financial account.

Other similar methods can be used to grant access to your accounts by some people who are not supposed to do so. Moreover, they can use your email account to launch new spam to other accounts.

c. Social Engineering:

It is critical to note that all hacking and security vulnerabilities are dependent on the user. Someone cannot enter your home unless you willingly open your door to him or foolishly forget your window is open. The same concept applies to email security vulnerabilities, and here is where the phrase “Social Engineering” comes into play. Social engineering is essentially the art of manipulating people and strategically exploiting their vulnerabilities. Phishing schemes are also a type of social engineering approach. It is far easier to deceive someone into giving up his or her password than it is to try to guess or hack it technically unless the password is weak or simple.

To explain the social engineering aspect clearly, let’s assume you have succeeded in hacking a Facebook account of X victim. Yet, Facebook asked you to provide your birth date for identity confirmation. In such a case, we have two approaches. The first one is to ask the X victim directly, which more likely will not work. However, the second approach, which is based on social engineering, would be designing a new website that requires a birth date for the ‘sign-up process and then making this X victim sign up. In this way, you have reached your goal without even letting the victim notice that he had been hacked.

4- How to Boost Your Email Security.

As previously said, no one can enter your home unless you open it for him or leave it unlocked. So, here is a list of tips to assist you to safeguard your email service and prevent unwanted action from being taken against it:

1-) Secure your device and email account. Don’t leave your account open, be sure you log out after finishing your work and secure your device with a strong password.

2-) Use multiple emails. It is better if you have at least 2 emails, one is private for your pure personal use, and one is public which you can use for registering for the public online forms. Using multiple emails and specifying private and public different emails help you with protecting your privacy.

3-) Never open any suspicious links or download attachments from unknown sources. Even better, don’t read the suspicious email at all.

4-) Use a strong password for a unique account. Don’t use the same password for multiple accounts. Use a unique password for a unique account. And be sure to have a strong password. Passwords can be complete sentences with normal spaces, which makes it is considered stronger and easy to remember as well.

5-) Don’t share your personal information with an unknown or untrusted party. And beware that no one has any right to know your password. Passwords can’t be shared with a third party.

6-) Use an up-to-date sufficient anti-virus and spam filter.

Use an email security gap analysis tool (e.g. Email threat Simulator ) to reduce email risks. Email Threat Simulator is a great tool to test your email vulnerability and to test your overall email security.

Further Reading: Explore Key Concepts in Cybersecurity Defense

To build a stronger cybersecurity posture, it’s important to understand the foundational technologies and behavioral challenges that shape today’s threat landscape. See the sources below for expert guidance on cloud security, encryption, credential-based attacks, data protection, and security awareness strategies.

• What is Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)? – Learn how CSPM tools detect and remediate misconfigurations in your cloud environments.
• What is Credential Stuffing? – Understand how attackers exploit reused passwords and how to test this vector with BAS.
• What is Cryptography? – A beginner-friendly guide to encryption fundamentals and why it’s critical to secure communications.
• What is Cybersecurity Burnout? – Discover seven ways to prevent fatigue in your security teams and foster long-term readiness.
• What is Data Backup and Backup Storage? – A practical guide for ensuring business continuity through robust backup planning.
• What is Data Encryption? – Explore how encryption protects sensitive data in motion and at rest across hybrid environments.
• What is Data Leakage Prevention (DLP)? – Discover essential strategies and benefits for keeping sensitive data from slipping through the cracks.
• What is Data Masking? – Learn how anonymizing sensitive data can prevent misuse in training, testing, and analytics.
• What is End-to-End Encryption (E2EE)? – Everything you need to know about securing messages from sender to recipient.
• What is Executive Clickbait in Security Awareness Training? – A deep dive into the dangers of high-level decision makers falling for phishing lures.
• What is Fileless Malware? – Discover this stealthy threat and how traditional tools often fail to detect it.
• The Security Learning Curve – Explore the nine psychological stages of behavior change in employee security training.
• Anti-Phishing in 2025 – Your complete guide to modern anti-phishing tactics and awareness strategies.
• Phishing Simulation in Banking – How financial institutions test resilience against email-based fraud.
• The Role of Human Error in Cybersecurity Breaches – Why behavior is often the weakest link—and how to fix it.
• Understanding Cybercrime – An overview of motivations, actors, and common attack vectors.
• Cybersecurity Analytics – Leveraging threat data for advanced detection and automated defense.
• Understanding e-Discovery – Why modern organizations need a plan for legal data retrieval.
• How WhatsApp Accounts Get Hacked – A breakdown of real cases and how to lock down your device.
• What is SecOps? – The key practices behind Security Operations and how to scale them effectively.
• Swatting: A Dangerous Social Engineering Tactic – Explore what it is, how it works, and how to defend against it.

Editor’s note: This blog was updated July 25, 2025