Email Security

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) has long been an internet standard, yet many administrators are still unfamiliar with what it is and how their organization can benefit from it. In this post we hope to clear up some of the confusion surrounding DKIM and what options are available as part of your email service with Securence.

What is DKIM?

At a basic level, DKIM provides a way for your outgoing email to be “digitally signed” by your domain. With this signature in place, a receiver can verify that your domain is truly the original source of the message. Additionally, since the signature is based on the actual message (headers and body), the receiver can also reliably confirm that the message has not been altered while in transit.

How does it work?

1. Hashing

First, the signing mail server generates a unique “hash value” for your message. It does this by feeding the message into a cryptographic hashing algorithm (usually SHA-256). This is a fancy way of reducing any message of any size down to a single, fixed length string of text that uniquely represents the contents of the message. Cryptographic hashing algorithms have the handy benefit of causing very similar text to produce vastly different hash values.  For example:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
SHA-256 hash: 38D141B35057BBB691B9756C20A6C31A0AB0BBF2076538A7FB6D9EE8835096D7

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,"
SHA-256 hash: 775FCE11D4FEC218D105CEC874901A5225B78C02EB6E86D8D4832464368C332A

Note that simply changing the period at the end of the sentence to a comma produced a completely different hash value. When the receiving mail server performs the same hashing algorithm on your message and gets the same result, it knows that the message is in the exact state it was in when originally hashed. Conversely, if a different hash value is produced on the receiving end, then some modification to the message has occurred.

2. Encryption

The calculated hash value is then encrypted using a private key owned by your domain. The public key counterpart is used to unlock or decrypt the hash for verification and is stored in your domain’s DNS record. In order to sign messages with Securence, you will generate this key pair in the admin portal. Securence stores the private key for signing while you make the public key available in a TXT record for verification.

3. Verification

When a receiving server sees a DKIM signature in the message headers, it attempts to decrypt the hash using the public key that is available via DNS.  If the decryption succeeds, the server knows that it could only have been encrypted with the private key held in secret for your domain.  It calculates its own hash value for the message. If it matches the decrypted one found in the signature, the receiver knows the message was not modified. The DKIM check is now complete.

What are the main benefits to signing with DKIM?

First, DKIM is an important part of protecting your domain from abuse. Email service providers can use the information gleaned from DKIM to identify and block fraud attempts. 

DKIM signing can also improve delivery rates with email services that track sender reputation. For example, if Gmail is unable to authenticate a message using either SPF, DKIM, or DMARC, it is more likely that message could end up delayed or even marked as spam.

Additionally, DKIM is a necessary step towards implementing DMARC, which itself provides further protection from email scams and spoofing attempts. Though DKIM is not explicitly required for DMARC, implementing a reject policy in DMARC is strongly discouraged without first signing with DKIM. DMARC will be discussed in an upcoming blog post.

How do I setup DKIM in Securence?

Configuring Securence to sign your outbound messages with DKIM is a relatively straightforward process. Click here for a PDF which will walk you through the steps.

Summary

DKIM is an important and useful email authentication scheme. Using DKIM, your messages can be signed in such a way that receivers can trust they truly originated from your domain and have not been tampered with. DKIM signing is included with your Securence Outbound service. If you have questions about DKIM or any other part of your Securence email protection suite, reach out to us at support@securence.com.

It’s common knowledge that email security is important in the business world. Hackers and spammers are relentless in their attempts to get their hands on your company’s sensitive information. A more serious threat is when they attempt to con you out of potentially millions of dollars. If the scam is a success, someone’s job will likely be in jeopardy. CEO Fraud is a real threat that can have damaging effects within a company or organization so it is important to be as prepared as possible to defend against it.

So what is CEO Fraud?

CEO Fraud, also called Whaling or Spear Phishing, is a type of email scam where the criminal impersonates an executive in the organization for the purposes of fooling another employee into initiating some kind of financial transaction (such as requesting a wire transfer or buying gift cards and sending the secret codes). Standard email authentication schemes such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, which operate on the sender’s address, do not provide protection against this since the scammer only needs to spoof the executive’s email address name in order to achieve their goal. In fact, a scammer’s email may actually pass SPF, DKIM, and DMARC since the message may originate from a large provider such as Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail.

In a busy work day, it would be easy to overlook a slight change to an email address. Here’s an example of a spoofed email a spammer may create:

Johndoe@company.com  Johndoe@cornpany.com

An unsuspecting employee that receives a message from the latter email address likely won’t notice that the “m” in company is really a “r” and an “n” side by side. At a quick glance, it looks like an “m.” By making these slight variations in the fake email addresses, spammers can be successful at these whaling attempts.

But how do scammers know your company’s hierarchy, including emails?

It’s simple. They do their research. Then they know exactly who they need to impersonate, who to send the “fake” email to, when to send it, and what to say to make the email victim bite the hook. Scary, right?

Now you may be wondering – how is it possible to protect against this? CEO Fraud Protection by Securence guards the executive’s name that gets displayed as the sender and is the key to the scam. If an email claims to be from an executive as configured in Securence but the email address does not match, then Securence will take action. Standard actions include: block and quarantine, notify an administrator, or modify the message to include a warning.

CEO Fraud Protection gives you relief against whaling attacks. You shouldn’t have to worry that any email that you’re receiving could be an attempt to scam you out of money or information. With the customer in mind, Securence added this new CEO Fraud Protection feature in order to be able to protect both you and your company from as many threats as possible so you can focus on the things that really matter.

Email security protocols are always changing as hackers discover new ways to break into email accounts. That is why Securence offers a wide range of email protection services with every email security package. These services not only help keep your Office 365 email accounts safe; they can also help cut the clutter and keep you running in case of a server crash. Best of all: Securence will beat any competitor’s pricing so you can enjoy the best email security protection program available at an unbeatable price.

Here are the services you can expect when you choose Securence as your email security provider.

1.  Lowest-Cost Inbound Filtering

One of the greatest threats to any email account is the mail that manages to show up in the inbox. It is likely that your Office 365 filters are strong by default, but hackers and malicious email scammers are always outpacing Microsoft’s security protocols. It is one of the most important reasons why companies need extra protection.

Inbound filtering will help eliminate external threats to your business’ email accounts. These can include phishing schemes, requests from foreign “princes,” and other emails that could potentially contain viruses or spyware.

2.  Lowest-Cost Outbound Filtering

Just as inbound filtering protects your email accounts from certain external attacks, outbound emails can help contain the spread of these attacks. In the case where someone manages to download a malicious email, outbound filtering can help their email stop the spread.

3.  Lowest-Cost Email Continuity

Almost every major tech company that offers email suffered server outages this year, including Amazon and Google. These outages can sometimes last a barely-perceived minute or a couple of days. In each instance, emails sent and received during those outages are lost and accounts are all but inaccessible. Email continuity services provide a backup email server that is constantly updated with every piece of mail sent. When the primary servers go down, these servers seamlessly take over. And when the primary servers go back up, they are automatically updated with all of the information sent during the outage.

4.  Lower-Cost Email Encryption

Email encryption is an extra layer of security that helps ensure your emails are seen by the intended recipients and no one else. Without added encryption, sensitive information sent via email can be intercepted, including credit card information, personal details, and other data that should be away from prying eyes.

5.  Lowest-Cost 10-Year or Unlimited Year Email Archiving

Finally, Securence offers email archiving services to ensure that your emails are always available. This program can help you stay compliant with federal regulations and your clients’ own security expectations, all while ensuring every email is at your fingertips.

Securence offers the most effective and lowest cost solution for safe-guarding your Office 365 email system. With a wide array of email filtering, protection, and continuity services built right into every package, you and your business can enjoy unprecedented email protection at the lowest cost available. Not only will Securence price match any competitor’s pricing, but they will also beat it so that you can have the protection you need at a price you can afford.

Microsoft’s Office 365 is the absolute gold standard of office programs; it’s a powerful suite that offers almost everything the modern business needs. But even with its stellar programming, Office 365 lacks in some key areas, especially security for email. Enter Securence’s Office 365 Security Suite, a convenient and powerful service that will keep you more connected in the event of server failures, all while providing the latest in protection from everything from malware to spam.

Securence’s Office 365 Security Suite offers a broad scope of security protocols and services that complement your company’s security needs. Here are just a few of its most powerful features.

1.  Email Shadowing

Sometimes, Office 365 loses information. The reasons can be complex or simple, but it doesn’t really matter because the end result is the same: you could stand to lose important emails and communications whenever Office 365 goes down, which it occasionally does. Securence’s Office 365 Security Suite includes 30 days of instant email recovery of any inbound or outbound message, a service even Microsoft cannot provide. That way, you can recover and follow up on those important messages as you need to, not when Office 365 is able to do so.

2.  Email Continuity

Email depends on servers, and servers, unfortunately, go down, crash, need maintenance, and, in some cases, lose vital information. Securence’s email shadowing protocols create a total, and totally safe, copy of your emails so that, when the servers go down, you can experience seamless email use that will then upload the new information onto your original servers once they are back online.

3.  Powerful Antivirus Software

Securence’s Office 365 Security Suite offers 17 layers of antivirus, phishing, and spam blocking protection, keeping your inboxes and outboxes safe from the spread of malicious malware and scams that frequent unprotected email accounts. With such powerful protection protocols, our antivirus keeps you safe with the lowest false positive system ever invented, meaning less unwanted emails get through while every bit of information is still scanned for its safety.

4.  An Easy-to-Use Outbound Smart Host

Our Office 365 Security Suite includes admin and user notifications, an easy release system, and a dedicated IP address. This will help your company stay out of blacklists that have become an issue for many Microsoft users because the company’s shared pool includes companies with bad sending practices. With our own system dedicated to your company, you will experience more efficient and more effective email, all while receiving important notifications about the status of your email service.

Microsoft’s Office 365 is the gold standard of office products, yet it still needs some extra help in key areas of its application, especially when it comes to email security. Securence’s Office 365 Security Suite delivers this much-needed security with a complex set of security measures that will keep your information safe while offering a continual connection to the digital world. If your company loves Office 365 but requires more security, contact Securence to discuss how you can run a safer, more connected company.

Our world is constantly connected, or at least it seems to be. But there are many different things that can happen to disconnect us from the world, our clients, and those important to our business. Since your business needs to stay connected in order to properly function, you need a backup plan that can keep your email communications running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. You can’t afford to lose a single communication, no matter what’s happening, so it’s important to have a service that won’t break down. That service is called “email continuity,” a simple, affordable, and effective way to keep your lines of communication open constantly.

Email continuity is a simple yet powerful idea

Email communication should be constant and not entirely dependent on a continually-running server. As many business owners know, servers can be unreliable; subject to power outages, maintenance problems, or simply unavailable because of an unforeseen problem. When these sorts of problems strike, those without email continuity come to a full stop by simply being disconnected, unable to send or receive emails and communicate when they need to. And with servers down, emails can get lost in the data interruption, meaning important communications could go unreceived and, therefore, unanswered.

The good news is that email outages can be a temporary thing of the past for your business

Thanks to email continuity services, any and all server outages can be temporary problems that leave your own email accounts unaffected and fully operational—and without losing a single byte of data. It works by automatically uploading your entire email to a cloud server, one that can remain operational in the event of a server outage. With everything on the cloud, your email will run on a backup that looks, feels, operates, and functions like your usual email, including receiving and sending emails. And once the server is back up and running, the cloud downloads the newest version of your email data for a seamless email experience.

We live in a world that is constantly connected

Between text messages, social media, and emails, our world moves at the speed of information, and information is constantly in motion. With so much riding on being able to communicate whenever you need, email continuity is becoming more and more important. Not only does proper email continuity protect your business from server outages and the potential loss of valuable communications, but it also ensures that you can stay in contact with the people that matter.

At Securence, we believe that email continuity is a necessity. Our email continuity service package is an affordable way to keep you connected and running, no matter what’s happening with your server. We offer a variety of email continuity plans that can easily grow with your business. That way, you won’t ever have to worry about losing emails because of your success or growth. Contact us today for an estimate on our email continuity service packages. It could be the difference between staying connected and getting disconnected at the worst possible moment.

In today’s business world, things travel at the speed of light. Communication is not only necessary, it’s critical, and it’s constant. There are people whose very lives depend on emails, and every business needs to have constant and reliable access to their email network. Yet, server outages happen, and when they do, many companies and their employees are brought to a sudden halt. Without access to any of their previous emails, and a vital communication pathway stopped, these outages can cost you time and money. But with email continuity solutions, you can always have access to your emails, even when a server goes down. All you need is an internet connection and Securence’s specialized cloud based email continuity service will do the rest. Here’s just a few ways that email continuity services can help your business succeed.

1. You and Your Employees Have Email Access All the Time

The main benefit that email continuity brings to any business is the ability to access emails in almost any circumstance. With our email continuity service, all you or your employees will need is an internet connection and with that they will always have access to their inboxes. This means that they can find important emails and attachments, review conversations and more, whenever they need.

2. Still Send and Receive, Even During Server Outages

One of the critical problems that occur during email server outages is that you are no longer able to send and receive messages. This can be a terrible experience for you, your business, and your employees, which inturn can have an impact on your client relations, see you working without the right information, and more. An email continuity service will ensure that inbound and outbound emails are still sent and received while the server is out, which means your company can seamlessly keep running no matter what.

3. Automatic Service, Constant Communication

Securence Email Continuity is directly linked to your email server, providing a constant update of licenses, information, and services that can easily be transported to a cloud system. When a server outage occurs, our service kicks in automatically, functioning just like the original service without any interruption. This means you’ll never have to worry about lost communications or lack of access to email accounts. With our cloud-based email continuity service, seamless email service makes server outage problems a thing of the past.

Starting at less than $1 per user/per month, Securence Email Continuity is a cost-effective yet crucial aspect of the modern business. Server outages are all too common, especially in the business world, and they can bring your company to a grinding halt. But with the right email continuity service, you’ll never have to worry about your business’ email again. With Securence Email Continuity, you will still be able to send and receive emails and gain access to important messages, all through our seamless cloud-based technology. All you need is an internet connection.

Emails today are some of the most time-consuming and dangerous aspects of the modern business. Not only can emails lead to a variety of distractions that can cost your business time and money, they can cost you in many other ways as well. If your business needs to keep your email as efficient and safe as possible, Securence’s cloud email security service solves many problems that plague business email. Here are just a few ways in which it can help your company succeed.

1. Security

Opening up an email shouldn’t be a risky venture. It should be a short, safe procedure that gives you the information you need to be productive. Modern malware creators still love using emails to send their malicious code. It’s a simple way to get people to open programs they don’t want, and it remains a method of delivery with a surprisingly high success rate. To protect your company against attacks, you need security in your email. Cloud email security service from Securence bolsters your email’s security, helping to filter through malicious emails to protect your company’s files and data.

2. Lessens Traffic

When you consider how many emails you get a day, you’re probably not keeping track of how much information is getting passed along with them. Pictures, attachments, and other forms of data all take up space on your servers, which can be a problem if you have limited server space, or are large companies sending multiple emails. Promotional emails, with their high resolution photos and other large files, can quickly take up space and push your server space to the limit. But with a cloud email security service, you can limit traffic by keeping out these big, superfluous emails. It helps you keep the demands on your server lower, but it can also save you money by not having to subscribe to more server space.

3. Customized Filters for Your Business

While most email providers supply some sort of filtering, that doesn’t mean that it’s enough to keep your employees focused. Many filters cannot differentiate in the same way as a professional cloud email security service, which can lead to many emails from sources that aren’t tied to work. With cloud email security service, however, you can set filters for incoming and outgoing emails, keeping you on top of everything in your company’s email. Filtering will lessen the number of emails you receive overall as well, making sure that everything that makes it to your inbox is pertinent and important. That means fewer important emails getting lost in the shuffle, and quicker response time to the mails that matter.

Modern businesses need 21st century solutions to everyday problems, especially when it comes to their email. While email services are designed to get people the information they need in a flash, they can also cost you time, money and productivity in many different ways. With Securence’s cloud email security service, these problems can be avoided. Custom filters, extra security, and more will help your company stay on the right track.