Email is an important part of business communications and when done correctly, it can certainly make people’s jobs easier. Employees have come to depend on email but at the same time, emails can make businesses vulnerable to threats such as malware, worms, viruses, and spyware. Fortunately, businesses don’t need to stop using email altogether to create a safe environment. Implementing the following best practices can make email more secure:

Know What’s at Stake

Before implementing a strategy for making email more secure, it helps to know what the risks that insecure emails can cause because that will help businesses formulate a plan for safeguarding against the risks. Specifically, what would happen if sensitive information within the emails ended up in the wrong hands? How much money does the company stand to lose if an email infected the computer with malware, spyware, worms, a virus, or another threat? In the majority of cases, these threats could result in a loss of data and that, over time, could cost the company money.

Implement Email Security Measures

At the very least, businesses need to utilize email security measures that are available today in order to control the threats, such as malware, that can be present in emails. For most businesses, the choices for how to secure their email are constantly growing. Here’s a look at some of the in house measures businesses can take:

  • Dedicated Email Server. One strategy businesses can use is to have a dedicated email server that will isolate the emails from the rest of the company’s applications. If an email is infected, it will have less of a chance of infected the rest of the company’s information.
  • Automatic Updates. Another thing that can help increase email security is to stay on top of any software updates that need to be made with email software programs as well as virus protection software.
  • Content Filtering. Sophisticated content filtering can further protect a business from emails that contain security threats. It can also help control spam emails. While many email companies provide their own in-house filters, there are programs out there that are even more effective than those.

Use Cloud Based Email

While the above suggestions are certainly helpful, they are a bit outdated in today’s environment. Cloud based email is an extremely reliable solution that doesn’t require businesses to have a dedicated emails server, or implement filtering and security measures. Cloud email systems like Microsoft Office 0365 and Google’s business mail solution allow for encryption and also come with their own filtering and security measures. This is a much better solution for businesses.

Ensure Employee Compliance

However, implementing email security measures can only take a company so far. Employee compliance to internal email security policies, knowledge of the types of problems negligence with their own email inboxes can cause, as well as informed leadership, can all go a long way to increasing overall email security. It is up to company leadership and the IT departments to set policies that will help keep workplace emails safe and secure. However, it is up to the employees to implement these policies and remain diligent when policing their own email accounts.

Need help making business emails more secure? A managed IT service provider helps companies make these types of decisions. Contact Roan Solutions for help creating an email security plan that best suits the company’s needs.