MailGuard Partners Blog

As the end of 2021 approaches, MailGuard would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to you, our partner community, for your continued invaluable support throughout what has been another tumultuous year.  

As the end of 2021 draws near, many of us are looking forward to a much-needed break, with many businesses shutting down and families preparing to re-connect and head away for holidays. But it’s crucial to take a moment to remind our customers to stay vigilant against cyber threats to ensure that businesses and their teams stay safe.  

The holidays are fast approaching, and with customers getting ready for the biggest sales of the year on Black Friday (the 26th of November), cybercriminals, who have been perfecting their social engineering techniques, are also gearing up to wreak havoc.   

Ransomware attacks are impacting businesses every 11 seconds. That’s a staggering statistic for a threat that is all too real and wreaking havoc on companies' longevity, operations, and reputation. In Australia, the ACSC observed a 15% increase in ransomware attacks in the last year alone, whilst globally, losses from ransomware are projected to reach $US20 billion. This unfortunate global trend has called for urgent action from both the public and private sectors as we work together to combat this ominous threat.  

As part of the 18th Annual Cyber Security Awareness Month this October, with the theme, 'Do your part, #BeCyberSmart', the National Cyber Security Alliance has provided the following valuable information. Share this with customers and their teams as a reminder of some best practice tips for recognising phishing threats. 

The spectre of cybercrime continues to loom large over businesses globally. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) released its Annual Cyber Threat Report in September, offering comprehensive, yet alarming, insights into the threat landscape facing Australian businesses. As a trusted advisor to your customers, it’s a must read for MailGuard partners. We share some highlights below, and a link to the full report.

The move to remote and hybrid working environments, although unprecedented in its timing, has been inevitable. A global pandemic, characterised by social restrictions, has forced businesses across the world to make a rapid digital transformation to support remote working. In parallel, we have witnessed a sharp escalation of cybercrime, highlighting the importance of boosting cyber resilience for our customers.

As we pulled the curtain on 2020, counting our losses from events that none had foreseen, with global geopolitical tensions rising, and in the wake of a global health emergency the likes of which we had never experienced, in COVID-19. It forced workforces across the globe to shift to hybrid or remote working and reflected in the IC3 2020 report summarizing the impact on U.S. citizens from cybercrime, citing “a record number of complaints from the American public in 2020: 791,790, with reported losses exceeding $4.1 billion.” Saying “This represents a 69% increase in total complaints from 2019. Business E-mail Compromise (BEC) schemes continued to be the costliest: 19,369 complaints with an adjusted loss of approximately $1.8 billion. Phishing scams were also prominent: 241,342 complaints, with adjusted losses of over $54 million. The number of ransomware incidents also continues to rise, with 2,474 incidents reported in 2020.”

In line with its’ commitment to continually improve and enhance the functionality and user-experience of its products and services, MailGuard has now enabled End-User Quarantine Access in its Management Console.