Directed turns to INKY’s next-generation technology for their anti-phishing solution.
Headquartered in Southern California, Directed is the largest designer and marketer in North America of consumer-branded vehicle security and remote start systems (sold under Viper®, Clifford®, Python®, Autostart® and other brand names). Directed markets its broad portfolio of products through many channels including leading national retailers and specialty chains throughout North America and around the world.
“If you aren’t using INKY you are inviting trouble, email is too easy to compromise.”
- Geoff Augenstein, Director of IT Infrastructure and Security, VOXX DEI
Security before INKY
Prior to engaging INKY, Directed’s business runs on email and for that reason, they sought out a solution that found the right blend between being both a preventative and corrective measure against the proliferation of email fraud attempts and phishing against their organization. Ultimately the only solution that came close was INKY.
Like most modern IT organizations Directed’s team had deployed standard spam and malware technologies, and while these were effective at filtering out mass mailing and malware, the Directed team recognized that their filtering was ineffective when it came to preventing modern phishing attempts.
Prior to installing INKY, Directed had seen multiple phishing attempts against their email user community. Many of these attempts were targeted at company executives and human resources associates. While none of the attempts was fully successful, some had progressed to the point where a handful of users had begun to engage in phishing email attempts. Thankfully, Directed’s internal phishing awareness training did cause the impacted users to take pause once they received strange follow-up requests, however, the fact that these emails were making it through at all was a major driver for engaging INKY. During the INKY demo, Directed was able to see some almost exact replicas of emails they received and how exactly INKY handled them.
The INKY Demo
The Directed team came to INKY with one goal in mind, finding a solution that prevented phishing attacks rather than training against them. After learning more about the simple deployment of INKY, training for their end-users through non-invasive banners appearing in emails, and a robust dashboard that displayed potential attacks, Directed knew that INKY was the right solution for them.
Implementing INKY
As we encourage all potential customers, the directed team started with a 2-3-week proof of concept with one of their smaller domains. INKY’s technology proved itself almost immediately and Directed quickly began deploying across all its managed email domains. The deployment process was described by the Directed team as being extremely straightforward. In fine-tuning INKY, Directed had the full support of the INKY technical team who ensured that the end product was as effective as possible. The Directed team noted that INKY’s ease of deployment and hassle-free management has freed up their IT resources.
Life with INKY
In the first couple of months after implementation, INKY has identified over 1200 warning emails that were aimed at Directed’s email user community. To date, none of these emails has been actioned. A few red banner emails from a customer with the same name as a Directed employee were flagged, but that only reinforced and validated INKY’s relentless nature. The IT team has chosen to have the red banner emails delivered in order to drive awareness training and education relative to email fraud. One phishing email of note was aimed at the company CEO and presented a highly believable email synch spoof.
Gone, phishing
The Directed team noted that over the past couple of years phishing has become far more aggressive than it was previously. The proliferation of email as a communication tool for private information and code-based services like iTunes and Gift Cards are creating a lucrative environment for phishing. The Directed team is concerned that when it comes to phishing, things will get worse before they get better. We are happy to report though that they now have peace of mind thanks to INKY, so much so that the Directed team has been evangelizing INKY with friends, family, and partner companies. Directed’s story is typical for the customers who seek out and engage INKY. Like Directed most of our customers have been very diligent about awareness training and spam filtering, but each realized that while filters and training are important, they ultimately fall short, and sadly one successful phishing attack is too costly to risk.
Schedule a demo with one of our reps to see INKY in action, then ask about a free trial.
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INKY is an award-winning, behavioral email security platform that blocks threats, prevents data leaks, and coaches users to make smart decisions. Like a security coach, it signals suspicious behaviors with interactive banners that guide users to take safe action on any device or email client. IT teams don’t face the burden of filtering every email themselves or maintaining multiple systems. Through powerful technology and intuitive user engagement, INKY keeps bad actors out for good.
Learn more about INKY™ or request an online demonstration today.