Published November 14, 2022
Author: Ash Khan

As phishing efforts continue to be prevalent, there will be an increase in ‘unwanted’ emails in 2022.

Email communication is an essential component of every organization. It is a quick, low-cost, and efficient method of delivering messages over the internet. Despite the rise of alternative techniques such as Microsoft Team and Slack, email continues to dominate the world of corporate communication. However, where there is email, there is spam email.

So what is spam email?

Spam email, often known as junk email, refers to unsolicited commercial communications delivered in large quantities. They frequently market items and services, but they may also include deceptive incentives and offers.

According to a recent analysis that examined billions of communications, a substantial sum of your work emails may be useless. Hornet security’s analyzed 25 billion business emails, over half are ‘unwanted’ and may pose a major threat to enterprises.

The survey also indicated that email remained a very popular threat vector, with phishing attempts – emails appearing to be from well-known firms, often rather successfully – accounting for 39.6% of all threats.

Why do people send Spam emails?

There are various reasons why spammers send such messages, here are the most common reasons so can protect your computer as well as your personal information.

Product Promotion

The primary reason spammers send communications is to entice you to buy things from them rather than reputable firms. Spam emails are generally commercial in nature, promoting items through links inserted in legitimate emails from sites you are acquainted with.

Forgery

Another reason spamming is growing at such a rapid pace is that it allows dishonest firms to trick you into parting with your money. As an example, suppose you get an email informing you that you have won a large sum of money in a lottery held in a nation with which you have no connection. However, in order to claim the money, you must first pay a transaction charge online. You fall for the ruse, send the transaction charge, and your funds are gone!

Malware Transmission

Spamming is an excellent method to bypass email security and spread malware that infects your computer and erases any vital data. In such cases, fast disaster recovery is critical if you want to get your computer back up and running. This may be done precisely and promptly with the right IT Support or you lose your data for good.

Our exaggerated perception of security!

When it comes to harmful email attachments, ZIP archives made up the most (28% of messages), followed by web files (HTML) at 21%. Text-based files were also widely used, with contaminated Microsoft Word documents accounting for 12.7%, PDF for 12.4%, and Excel for 10.4%.

In reaction to the shifting digital world, crooks are developing new ways. For example, assaults utilizing Microsoft 365’s macro capabilities are no longer possible, since Microsoft deactivated the capability last year to strengthen its security.

As a result, new tactics have been implemented. HTML smuggling has increased, with hidden LNK or ZIP files buried within web links to deliver malware.

Other investigations have discovered a comparable – or even greater – percentage of spam emails in people’s accounts. According to Kaspersky, the percentage ranges between 45 and 85%.

How to deal with Spam emails?

Hornet Security CEO Daniel Hofmann cautioned that, given the prominence of cloud-based systems like Microsoft 365, its use should be treated with the same level of caution. According to a survey, a quarter of respondents were unaware that 365 may be a possible gateway for ransomware – some even believed it was immune to such attacks.

Hofmann suggested that ongoing training should be implemented to prevent cybercriminals from exploiting people’s trust in productivity suites. It’s also vital that all data shared should be backed up. 

To avoid spam emails, you should Mark them as spam, block, delete or unsubscribe from senders. You should not interact with spam emails and most important keep your email address hidden to make sure your email is secure.