Phishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated and certainly more costly. Take Business Email Compromise (BEC), for example. In 2024, the average BEC came with a loss of more than $137,000 – a pretty hefty sum for a business to absorb.¹ As Managed Service Providers (MSPs), your clients rely on you to protect their businesses from these types of threats and many others. That’s why building a proactive phishing defense strategy is so important. It requires a combination of robust technology, user education, and well-defined response plans. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the key components to include in your strategy, along with how INKY can support your efforts.

1. Risk Assessment and Audits

The first step in combating phishing threats is understanding where your clients are most vulnerable.

• Conduct Regular Security Assessments: Evaluate your clients’ current email security posture, identify gaps, and prioritize areas that need immediate attention.
• Identify High-Risk Users and Processes: Pinpoint users or departments that are most likely to be targeted by phishing attempts, such as finance teams or executives, and implement additional safeguards.

How INKY Helps: INKY provides advanced analytics and reporting tools to help MSPs identify vulnerabilities across client environments. By analyzing email trends and patterns, you can better understand where the risks lie.

2. Email Security Solutions

A strong phishing defense starts with robust email security infrastructure.

• Deploy Cutting-Edge Email Security Tools and Anti-Spam Software: Ensure only legitimate emails reach users’ inboxes by filtering out spam and malicious content.
• Implement DMARC: Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) protects against spoofing by verifying that incoming emails are from trusted sources.

How INKY Helps: INKY’s has your inbound, outbound, and internal email covered with their AI-powered email security solution that detects phishing emails that other systems miss. INKY analyzes emails for visual and textual anomalies, such as fake logos or domain mismatches, and provides real-time warnings to users in the form of an interactive and informative banner. Meanwhile, INKY’s graymail protection keeps inboxes free from distracting clutter. INKY also offers DMARC Monitoring which provides visibility into domain usage, improved deliverability, and data-driven insights.

3. Employee Awareness and Training

Email security technology is always complemented by informed and vigilant employees.

• Run Phishing Simulation Campaigns: Regularly test employees with simulated phishing emails to assess their ability to recognize and report threats.
• Provide Ongoing Training: Equip end users with the knowledge to identify phishing attempts. Cover topics like recognizing suspicious email addresses, spotting fake links, and understanding social engineering tactics.

How INKY Helps: INKY offers engaging and effective Security Awareness Training with creative and memorable videos that include real life stories, short one-minute videos on a variety of subjects, and whiteboard animation. Quick Links in the INKY Email Assistant banner make it easy for employees to flag suspicious messages. MSPs can use these reports to provide targeted feedback and improve training.

4. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Adding an extra layer of authentication is critical for securing email accounts and other systems.

• Make MFA Mandatory: Require MFA for accessing email and any systems that handle sensitive information. This simple step can block unauthorized access even if credentials are compromised.

How INKY Helps: While INKY focuses on email security, its seamless integration with identity and access management solutions ensures that MFA works alongside email protection to safeguard your clients’ systems.

5. Incident Response Plans

Even with strong defenses, no system is 100% immune to phishing attacks. A clear and actionable incident response plan is essential.

• Develop Clear Protocols: Outline step-by-step actions to take if a phishing attack is successful, including isolating affected systems, notifying stakeholders, and recovering compromised accounts.
• Test Response Plans Regularly: Revisiting your response plans regularly helps ensure they are kept up-to-date and that all team members know their roles during an incident.

How INKY Helps: INKY’s detailed reporting and alerting features enable MSPs to quickly identify phishing incidents and respond effectively. By providing actionable insights, INKY helps MSPs minimize damage and reduce recovery time.

Phishing defense is a multifaceted challenge, but with the right strategy and tools, MSPs can provide their clients with robust protection. Platforms like INKY’s simplify the process by offering cutting-edge email security, real-time monitoring, and actionable insights. INKY is also super easy to use. It takes 30 minutes for the initial install followed by 15 minutes for any new customer onboarding. Most importantly, with INKY it takes less than 1 hour per month to manage 1,000 mailboxes.

Learn more about what partnering with INKY can do for your company and schedule a free demonstration today.

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INKY is an award-winning, behavioral email security platform that blocks phishing threats, prevents data leaks, and coaches users to make smart decisions. Like a cybersecurity coach, INKY signals suspicious behaviors with interactive email 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 phishers out for good. Learn why so many companies trust the security of their email to INKY. Request an online demonstration today.

¹Source: www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2023_IC3Report.pdf