Why Should Your Business Use Outbound Spam Filtering?

By Margaret.

You probably already know about inbound spam filtering. It’s what (at least in theory) prevents your inbox from getting filled up with useless spam and malicious emails. Malicious domains and common templates are flagged, so they either go straight to your junk folder or don’t reach your mailbox at all.

Great, but you should also think about outbound spam filtering, which directs attention to the emails heading out of your mailbox. You might think that sounds pointless since you control what is sent, but attacks can take control of your inbox and send spam or harmful messages to your contacts.

Here’s why you should use outbound spam filtering to prevent that from happening.

Avoid Blacklisting

If your email account is taken over, it could be used to send thousands of emails to various contacts. This is considered suspicious behaviour, especially as people start to flag what you’re sending them as spam or harmful, so you could find that your IP address is blacklisted. When that happens, even the legitimate emails you send could go straight to the addressee’s junk folder.

Prevent Embarrassment

It can be embarrassing to have your personal email address inundating contacts with unwanted messages. When you’re dealing with a business account, the fallout is much worse. You’ll appear unprofessional, and you could even spread a virus to one of your clients. In either case, you’re not going to come out of things looking very good.

Protect Your Infrastructure

It’s well worth keeping in mind that any attack on your mailbox could have infiltrated another part of your IT network. Outbound spam filtering services will send you regular supports, and you should receive an alert if any signs of suspicious activity are detected. You’ll be able to address the problem while protecting the rest of your network.

Avoid Fines

Legislation is getting much tougher when it comes to fining organisations for sending out unsolicited emails, so you could face hefty fines if you don’t use an outbound spam filtering service. It’s sometimes possible to avoid those fines if you can prove you weren’t directly responsible, but wouldn’t you rather avoid the problem in the first place?

Transcript:
About:
Topic
Business
Published
Nov 24, 2017