Email Hygiene 101: What You Need to Know in 2025

We’ve all heard the horror stories. An employee gets an urgent email from their CEO requesting a wire transfer to a new vendor. The email looks legitimate; even the CEO’s signature is dead on. This employee is newer to the business and wants to make a good impression so they act quickly and process the payment, only to realize later, when they bring it up to their colleague who’s been with the company for years, that the email was fake. 

The company just lost thousands of dollars to a cybercriminal.

This type of attack, which is known as Business Email Compromise, is just one example of how cybercriminals take advantage of email vulnerabilities. Even though businesses have taken measures to improve cybersecurity, email is still a favorite entry point for cyberattacks. 

To them, this is one of the easiest ways to get into your business. 

That’s exactly why email hygiene is so important for businesses of all sizes. In this blog, we’re going to break down the biggest email threats, common cybersecurity mistakes you may be making, and some steps you can take today to protect your business.

Let’s dive in.

What are email-based cyber threats?

We are firm believers in the old saying: Knowledge is power. 

This couldn’t be truer than when protecting your SMB from modern cyber threats. The more you understand how cybercriminals think—and that their favorite entry point is usually the easiest—the better you can protect your business. 

The more difficult you make it for bad actors to exploit your vulnerabilities, the more likely they’ll turn to easier targets and leave you alone.

Here are the most common threats targeting inboxes right now:

Phishing: Because this is the most common email-based threat, you’ve probably heard of this one before. Attackers will create emails that look like they are from a trusted vendor or person. Think banks, vendors, colleagues, and bosses. They trick the recipient into clicking a malicious link or may trick them into sharing sensitive information.

Business Email Compromise (BEC): This is another widespread attack, and if you read through the introduction of this blog, then you already know what this looks like. Cybercriminals impersonate company executives, vendors, or partners to trick employees into transferring money or confidential information. This one is less about malware and more about social engineering.

Malware and Ransomware Attacks: Using email attachments or malicious links, cybercriminals are able to infect malware into your system. Once these malicious attachments or links are opened, the malware is installed and can steal data, log keystrokes, or even encrypt your most important files so you can’t access them until you pay a ransom.

Email Spoofing & Domain Impersonation: This is how the cybercriminal tricks your employees into trusting them. Email spoofing is when attackers fake the “from” address in an email, making it appear like it’s coming from a legitimate source. 

Now that we’ve covered some of the most common email scams, let’s get into what you can do about it. 

3 simple steps for good email hygiene

We always say that it’s much better to be proactive than reactive, and this couldn’t be more true than when it comes to cybersecurity and protecting your business. In this section, we’re going to teach you everything you need to know about protecting your business from email-based cyber attacks. 

It’s much simpler than you might think.

Step 1: Employee Awareness and Training

Your employees are the first line of defense against email threats as cyber criminals usually target employees first. Without the right training, they won’t know not to click links or fall for a simple BEC attack. Two great first steps would be to implement regular phishing simulations and cybersecurity training. Help them understand how to spot suspicious emails and recognize red flags.

Step 2: Strong Authentication Strategies

Sometimes, even if you train your team, one of them might accidentally click on a malicious link or open an attachment from an unknown sender. This is where strong authentication measures will save the day. Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all accounts. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access, even if passwords are compromised. 

Step 3: Regular System and Software Updates

Remember when we said that an attacker’s favorite entry point is usually the easiest one? Don’t make it easier for them to exploit your vulnerabilities. Make sure that you are keeping your operating systems updated by regularly patching software to fix known weak points. 

Something important to keep in mind here is that legacy systems often lack critical security features and leave your business open to attacks. Those unpatched vulnerabilities are like a painted bullseye for cybercriminals.

When it comes to cybersecurity, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. In the next section, we’re going to walk you through how to turn these steps into a company-wide email hygiene policy.

Creating a company-wide email hygiene policy

If you own a business, implementing an email hygiene policy is mission-critical. 

Without a formal security policy in place, your employees will not have clarity on how to handle potential threats. Not everyone can easily identify what’s a scam and what isn’t. Here’s what you should include in your email security policy:

Outline acceptable email use. What types of emails can employees send and receive? How should they handle attachments? Make sure that your team is always using their business email for all work-related communications, never their personal email. This policy should also include MFA, password management, and how to recognize phishing attempts. 

To prevent email spoofing and domain impersonation, you need to make sure that only authorized users can send emails from your business. Your IT team should configure your email filtering tools to block known malicious domains and flag (very important) suspicious emails before they reach your employees. 

What if a malicious email gets through to an employee? Make sure that you have an outlined and organized reporting process in place. This helps minimize damage because your employees will know exactly what steps to follow to report the email quickly. Part of this involves understanding that cybercriminals constantly try to find new ways to breach a business, so you need to stay ahead of emerging threats. Make sure to occasionally review and update your security policies to stay ahead.

Staying ahead of email threats

Staying ahead of cyber threats is a constant battle, and for small and mid-sized business owners, it’s often an uphill one. 

Between managing daily operations, keeping customers happy, and driving growth, cybersecurity can feel like just another burden until a single compromised email brings everything to a halt. Attackers know that SMBs often lack the time, resources, or expertise to implement enterprise-grade security, which is exactly why they target them.

That’s where Network Thinking Solutions (NTS) comes in. We take the complexity of email security off your plate, ensuring that your business is protected against phishing, spoofing, ransomware, and the evolving tactics of cybercriminals. From setting up advanced email filtering and authentication protocols to training your team and monitoring for threats, we make security simple, seamless, and effective.

But email protection is just the beginning. If you’re still relying on outdated systems, your business is at an even greater risk—not just from email threats but from broader vulnerabilities that hackers love to exploit. We can help modernize your IT infrastructure, upgrading legacy systems to secure, scalable solutions that keep your business running safely and efficiently.

Cyber threats aren’t going away, but you don’t have to face them alone. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you protect your business.