Email feels simple. You send messages, receive updates, talk to clients, share files and move on with your day. It is such a normal part of running a business that it is easy to forget how much actually flows through your inbox. Invoices, approvals, passwords, confidential documents, supplier information and day to day conversations all pass through the same place.
This is exactly why email is one of the easiest ways for cybercriminals to get into a business. Once you realise how central your email account is to almost everything you do, it becomes clear why protecting it matters so much. If that front door is left open, everything behind it becomes exposed.
So how do attackers get in, and what can you do to close these gaps before something goes wrong? Let’s break it down in plain English.
Why Email Is the Favourite Target
1. People trust what they see
Scams work because they look familiar. A fake invoice from a supplier you recognise. A parcel notification that seems normal. A Microsoft sign in page that looks perfect at first glance. It only takes one moment of “this looks fine” to let an attacker in.
2. Your inbox connects to everything
Once someone gets access to your email, they can often reset passwords to other systems. Banking. Microsoft 365. Your cloud storage. Your CRM. Even your social media. If your email gets compromised, the attacker can pivot quickly and quietly.
3. Business email is full of valuable information
Think about what lives inside your inbox:
- Quotes and invoices
- Client details
- Password reset links
- Internal business info
- Attachments with sensitive data
Attackers do not need to work hard. They simply search your inbox for anything they can use or sell.
4. It is easier to trick a person than break a system
Cybercriminals know that businesses invest in firewalls, antivirus and secure networks. Humans, on the other hand, can be rushed, tired or juggling ten things at once. That is why phishing remains the most successful attack method in the world.
5. People are not actually the weakest link
A strong insight from recent research is that employees are not the core problem. Often, the real issue is the environment they work in. If leadership does not prioritise cybersecurity or if the business has no clear guidance, even the best people are left to guess and hope.
Your suppliers and partners also play a role. A weak point in your supply chain can lead to an attack on you, even if your internal staff are doing everything right.
Email Was Never Built For Security
Here is the part most people do not realise. Email was created decades ago for convenience, not security. It was never designed with identity verification or strong sender authentication, which means attackers can easily pretend to be you or your suppliers.
This is why email spoofing is so common.
Modern protections like SPF, DKIM and DMARC exist to help confirm whether an email genuinely came from your domain. Without these, anyone can send a message that looks like it came from your business. That is exactly what scammers exploit when launching invoice scams or impersonation attacks.
What Cybercriminals Do Once They Get In
A compromised email account does not always lead to immediate chaos. In many cases, attackers sit quietly and watch.
Once an attacker gets into a mailbox, they often stay hidden for a while. They read ongoing conversations, learn how your business communicates and operates, and quietly observe patterns. They do this so they can blend in and strike in a way that looks completely normal to everyone involved. That is usually when the real damage happens.
Common things they do:
- Change bank details on invoices
They reply to your clients pretending to be you and redirect payments.
- Send messages to your staff with malicious links
Because the email is coming from a trusted internal account, people click without thinking.
- Reset your other account passwords
They lock you out while gaining full control.
- Spread to other victims
Your compromised email becomes the launchpad for more attacks.
In most cases, you will not even notice until a client calls asking why you changed your bank account or why they received a suspicious email.
How to Strengthen Your Email Security
The good news is that stopping these attacks does not require complicated setups or massive costs. A few key protections make a huge difference.
1. Use MFA (Multi Factor Authentication)
This is the single most important protection for your email. Even if an attacker steals your password, they cannot get in without your second verification step.
2. Protect your identity with modern access controls
Remote work, mobile devices and cloud apps all rely on your identity. If your identity is secure, everything connected to it becomes stronger.
Features like conditional access, device checks and location rules help close the gaps attackers love to use.
3. Build a human based defence, not a blame culture
Employees are not the weakest link. With the right support, they become one of your strongest lines of defence.
Short, practical training that shows real examples works far better than long compliance modules. Empower people to recognise threats, ask questions and report anything unusual.
4. Protect your domain from spoofing
Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC properly so attackers cannot impersonate your domain. When your domain is protected, fake emails pretending to be from your business are much easier to identify and block.
5. Keep mailbox rules clean
Attackers often create hidden rules that forward emails or delete alerts. Regular checks help you spot anything unusual.
6. Use business grade email security
Spam filters and antivirus are only the basics. Modern email security tools check links in real time, scan attachments, look for suspicious behaviour and block threats before they reach your inbox.
So, how do you fix your weakest link?
Start with identity protection, secure access, domain level email authentication and good awareness across your team. Once those foundations are in place, most email based attacks become far easier to block.
If you want to make your business safer and avoid email related problems, contact us and we will walk you through the right setup for your team.
