In 2025, email will continue to be one of the primary communication channels for businesses, making it a key target for cyber threats. With the sophistication of cyberattacks increasing—through phishing, malware, ransomware, and business email compromise, organizations of all sizes need to adopt strong email security practices to protect sensitive information, maintain regulatory compliance, and safeguard their reputation. This article outlines the top 10 email security best practices every business should consider in 2024. Whether your organization is a large enterprise or a small business, implementing these strategies will help create a secure communication environment, ensuring that both employees and data are well-protected against evolving cyber risks.
Those best practices can be summarized as follows:
- Employee training and security awareness.
- Strengthen Your Passwords.
- Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
- Use Email Encryption.
- Be careful dealing with Email links.
- Scan attachment before opining them.
- Deploy Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Tools.
- Don’t use business Email account for personal purposes.
- Monitor and Audit Email Activity.
- Use up to date Email security tools.
Now let’s talk about each one of those best practices in more detail.
Employee training and security awareness
Conducting a regular training and security awareness sessions for the employees is important to inform them about security best practices and keep users up to date with the latest technologies helping them to understand the Email threats and avoid the risk as much as possible.
The training should include also a phishing simulation, password tips, and data protection.
Strengthen Your Passwords
Using strong passwords is very important element for the Email security, and as we mentioned, the organizations should train the employees about passwords tips and best practices, like using a long multi charters passwords, never reuse the same password in many accounts and use a different one for each, also never writing the password in an easy access files, and so on.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
MFA is the concept where the users use more than one method to authenticate their identity. For example, a username and password in combination with a one-time password (OPT), or fingerprint, or face biometric. Adding more than one factor to the authentication process adds an additional layer of protection against common email threats, such as brute-force attacks and password cracking.
Most email service providers offer 2FA/MFA as part of their security features by default, all what we need to push our employee to use this feature and add extra layer to their Email security.
Use Email Encryption
Email Encryption means to convert your Email into something can’t be understood without having the decryption key, and this can help to protect against Man in the Middle Attacks (MITM), and Business Email Compromise attacks (BEC).
Many email providers offer built-in security features, including encryption. However, if your email provider does not offer this feature, there are several third-party encryption tools you can use for this matter.
Be careful dealing with Email links
One of the basics in Email security is to think twice or more before clicking any link included in the Email. You could receive a very attractive offer asking you to click the link to complete your details and win something, and here you need to think, is it logic or no, as hackers can use this link to crack your Email password or to navigate you to a phishing web page.
Scan attachment before opining them
Sometimes, attackers or hackers use the Email attachments to send a malicious code or content, also you could receive this type of malicious files from a trusted source or from Email account within your company which already compromised, that’s why using a tools or Email gateway to scan and check the attachment is very important to block those harmful files and protect the users from being compromised in general.
Deploy Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Tools
Set up DLP policies that prevent employees from accidentally or maliciously sharing sensitive information through email. For example, restrict the sharing of files or messages containing financial information, customer data, or intellectual property.
Don’t use business Email account for personal purposes
It is easier to use one Email account for everything for sure, but keeping personal and business email accounts separate can protect against data breaches and improve Email security in general, also helps the employees to manage their Email better.
Monitor and Audit Email Activity
Regularly monitor email logs for signs of unusual behavior, such as frequent login attempts from unfamiliar locations. Implement auditing policies that flag suspicious email activity, such as a high volume of outbound emails or repeated logins outside normal business hours.
Use up to date Email security tools
Following the best practices is a key to keep you Email secure, also email security strategies should include multiple tools that help to protect the Email from being compromised and protect the employees from the many risks coming for the Email. Antimalware, antispam, antivirus, email filtering, email security gateways, email monitoring systems, firewalls and endpoint protection should be considered, and there are so many vendors where you can find a high tech solution to protect your business Email and guard your overall security.
Click this link to know more how Cloud Networks Solutions can help you for this matter.
Conclusion
As cyber threats become more sophisticated, protecting your organization’s email communications is essential. By implementing these top 10 email security best practices, businesses can reduce the risk of data breaches; protect sensitive information, and enhance a security-conscious culture within the workforce. Not only in 2025, prioritizing email security not just a technical necessity but a strategic safeguard for a company’s reputation and trustworthiness. Taking proactive steps in securing email systems helps ensure that businesses remain resilient in the face of evolving cyber threats, allowing them to focus on growth and innovation with peace of mind.