The Critical Importance of Secure Email Across Sectors
Retail and manufacturing companies handle vast amounts of sensitive data, from customer payment details to supplier contracts and production plans. With 91% of cyberattacks beginning with phishing emails, these industries are prime targets for email-based fraud, ransomware, and data breaches.
Retailers risk financial loss and reputational damage from payment fraud and account takeovers, while manufacturers face downtime costs of up to $270,000 per hour due to ransomware infiltrating industrial systems through email.
A single compromised inbox can serve as an entry point for widespread cyberattacks, making robust email security essential to business continuity and brand reputation.
Advanced Email Security Strategies for Retail and Manufacturing
To mitigate these risks, retail and manufacturing businesses must adopt multi-layered email security strategies that go beyond basic spam filters. Advanced solutions like Proofpoint Essentials and Red Sift’s OnDMARC provide:
- AI-Powered Threat Analysis – Evaluates email patterns and sender behavior to identify phishing, malware, and business email compromise (BEC) attempts.
- URL and Attachment Protection – Scans embedded links and attachments to detect and block malicious content.
- Email Encryption & Archiving – Ensures secure communication and compliance with industry regulations while enabling easy data retrieval.
- DMARC Implementation – Strengthens domain security, preventing spoofing and impersonation attacks.
Cyber Criminals have Multiple Angles of Attack
Retail and Manufacturing businesses are often very visible to the public and their clients, and the frequency and volume of transactions is enticing for fraudsters to attack. For instance, 43% of retail/service sector businesses have suffered phishing attacks – the most targeted industry – while 70% of consumers can correctly identify retailers that have been breached. Just-in-time manufacturing is no exception to this either – industrial control systems are increasingly the target of ransomware attacks, leading among the more than 2,600 ransomware complaints filed with the FBI in 2014 alone.
Any Retailer with Credit Card Numbers is a Target
Target and Home Depot’s data breaches, compromising tens of millions accounts, are definite headliners of retail cybersecurity case studies, but cyber criminals have commodified stolen data to such an extent that any retailer – brick and mortar or e-commerce – is at risk of a data breach. 91% of cyberattacks start with phishing attempts, while decentralized data systems and high vendor visibility leave retailers exposed to email fraud. What’s more, the average retailer only spends 4% of their IT budget on cybersecurity – a paltry sum for the risks entailed.
Manufacturers at Risk Due to Volume Business
Every manufacturer knows that an hour of downtime due to data breach or IT failure can lead to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. One auto parts plant in North Carolina lost $270,000 per hour due to downtime caused by ransomware that entered their IT systems. The delivery method? An innocuous email that served as the entry point to the plant’s broader computer network – a threat that multiplies with every employee inbox on the network.
Common Threats Create Common Challenges
Retailers and Manufacturers are at the heart of the consumer economy with plenty of employees that create various vulnerabilities cyber criminals can exploit. Vircom’s enhanced version of Proofpoint Essentials offers email protection that keeps phishing, malware, ransomware, malicious attachments, dangerous URLs and even targeted attacks at bay, while encryption and archiving allow you to communicate securely and keep efficient records, addressing so many of the risks sprawling organizations may face.
Your First Step to Better Cybersecurity is Email Threat Protection
Most attacks start through email, and while the average bank spends as much as $2500 per employee on cybersecurity, retail and consumer goods companies invest only a fraction of that – about $400 per employee.
While you may be using a variety of systems for HR, payroll and other critical business functions, email is the communication tool that your employees use most frequently, where attacks are most likely to start,
and where Vircom’s leading email security solutions can keep you protected.
