MailGuard Partners Blog

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.

A phishing email purporting to be from Australia Post, claiming your parcel is about to be returned. A DHL-themed email scam informing users of a ‘failed delivery attempt’. A simple HTML email leading to phishing pages employing FedEx TNT’s branding, citing issues with your delivery address. 

In 2020, Australians lost over $850 million to scams. A new report by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission found phishing was the most reported type of scam across the country, rising to “unprecedented levels” in comparison to 2019. “Phishing activity thrived during the pandemic. Over 44,000 reports were received, representing a 75% increase,” the report stated.  

“By any measure, 2020 was the worst year ever when it comes to ransomware and related extortion events. And if we don’t break the back of this cycle, a problem that’s already bad is going to get worse.”

- Acting Deputy Attorney General John Carlin, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), April 2021

Earlier this month, we announced a new security enhancement to the MailGuard Console – enforced Single Sign-On (SSO) login. For those who missed it, here's a recap of what this enhancement entails. 

Business email compromise (BEC) scams have been around for a while, but their continued success at bringing down organisations (both large & small) shows we’re dealing with an adversary that is constantly looking for ways to exploit our systems, our psychology & our trust.  

It’s integral that businesses proactively take steps to enhance identity-related security measures like MFA because since the COVID-19 pandemic, “identity has become the new security perimeter” according to many experts, including Microsoft. 

A PwC survey released at the end of 2020 highlighted fears of growing cyber-attacks targeting local critical infrastructure.