Organizations in EMEA are more vulnerable to email attacks than organizations in other parts of the world. A new global report from IT security company Barracuda Network shows that 7% of EMEA IT teams receive more than 50 suspicious emails a day, while 32% receives between 6 and 50.
While not all suspicious emails are malicious, it can have consequences for both business and productivity – especially with the employees handling the cases. A total of 81% reports that they spend more than 30 min. on investigating and dealing with an attack, while 47% spend more than an hour per attack.
“The threat of email attacks is growing ever more, and this has major consequences for companies that are not prepared. More than four in five organizations claim to have faced an email-based security threat within the past year, and 74% notes that email attacks have had a direct impact on their business. Therefore, it may seem disturbing that there is nothing more to be done to train employees and generally raise the level of email security,” says Peter Gustafsson, responsible for Barracuda Networks in the Nordic region.
Security investments lag behind in EMEA
Barracuda’s survey reveals that over half (54%) of EMEA organizations’ email security costs have remained unchanged over the past year, compared to a global average of 45%. At the same time, only 39% of the organizations increased their spending on email security, while the figure is 48% globally. Every fourth (23%) of EMEA respondents also admit that they have never been trained in email attacks. In comparison, the global average is 17%.
“More than three out of four organizations say their employees are bad at identifying suspicious emails. Investing in security solutions and training is not getting any better. There is a need for both money and training of the employees,” says Peter Gustafsson.
Of the companies that have been attacked, 66% claim that it has had direct financial consequences with reduced productivity, data loss, disruption and reputation loss as the most typical consequences.
Email attacks affect employee health
An attack not only burdens the company – employees can also experience personal consequences that extend beyond the four walls of the office. More than a third (38%) of EMEA respondents say that email attacks lead to increased stress, where IT management in particular is most affected. This feeling is reinforced by a lack of confidence in the security of the organization.
More than half (52%) of EMEA respondents state that the company’s security is likely to have not improved within the past year. This means that more than one in three (38%) of EMEA respondents worry in their leisure time, and 16% have even had to cancel personal appointments to deal with an attack. However, the figures are even greater in both the APAC and AMER regions, with 44% respectively. and 47% cares about email threats outside of working hours.
“Employees should place much greater demands on the workplace to get the right training and tools to feel more secure and to be effective in the defense line as part of a holistic email security strategy,” concludes Peter Gustafsson.
About the report
Barracuda Network’s “Email Security Trend 2019” report is based on a survey of 660 decision makers and IT security professionals in organizations from around the world with 100 to more than 5,000 employees. Certain figures are taken from this Barracuda blog post.
You can read the “Email Security Trend 2019” report here.
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