New InsurSec report ranks the top Email Services and Email Security Solutions from best to worst; Finds email incidents grew by nearly 25% in 2023

News Highlights

• Email Services: Google Workspace customers experienced 54% fewer email security incidents than average, and 3X fewer incidents than those using Microsoft 365.
• Email Security Solutions: Businesses using Mimecast experienced 37% fewer email security incidents than average, topping the email security category for the second year in a row. Other providers ranked include Proofpoint, Barracuda, Sophos, Appriver, and more.
• Larger companies, with annual revenue greater than $100M, saw the highest overall increase in the frequency of email claims last year, and experienced 3X more claims than companies under $25M.
• Financial fraud was the most common email crime in 2023, involved in 3 of 5 email claims. The average amount of funds stolen was $219K. At-Bay helped recover over $61M in stolen funds from 2023 through the first half of 2024.

SAN FRANCISCO, November 12, 2024 – At-Bay, the InsurSec provider for the digital age, today released its 2024 InsurSec Rankings Report – Email Security and Financial Fraud, which details new trends in email attacks and financial losses among mid-market and emerging businesses, and ranks today’s top email security solutions and email services from best to worst. One major finding from the report, which analyzes At-Bay’s email claims data from 2021 through the first half of 2024, shows that email incidents increased in the US in 2023, with the frequency of email claims jumping by nearly 25%. Financial fraud was also the most common email crime, involved in 3 of 5 email claims. 

“As an InsurSec company, we are uniquely positioned to objectively measure and assess the effectiveness of today’s top email solutions at reducing cyber risk,” said Ayelet Kutner, Chief Technology Officer at At-Bay. “Today we can reveal that Google Workspace and Mimecast have once again topped their categories, and even improved their outcomes since our last ranking. Google Workspace customers and Mimecast customers experienced 54% and 37% fewer email security incidents, respectively, than the averages in their categories.”

Key Findings from the Report 

• Trends in email incidents

• • • The frequency of email incidents grew by 24% in 2023. This trend was consistent across businesses of all sizes.
    • Larger companies, with annual revenue greater than $100M, saw the highest overall increase in frequency, experiencing 3X more email claims than companies under $25M.
    • The three top most targeted industries for email crime in 2023 and the first half of 2024: Manufacturing, Finance, and Law Firms. 

• Spotlight on Financial Fraud 

• • • Financial fraud was the most common cybercrime committed over email, accounting for 3 of 5 email claims in 2023 (61%), worsening to more than two-thirds (72%) in the first half of 2024. In 3 of 4 cases (75%), these incidents occurred with a vendor or partner the business already had a relationship with.
    • Threat actors aren’t  always after cash — they’re fraudulently redirecting goods. 4.5% of the incidents analyzed involved goods delivered to a threat actor without payment, spanning everything from Christmas decorations, to beauty products and paper towels.
    • Financial fraud incurred significant damage to businesses of all sizes. The average amount of funds stolen in a financial fraud incident was $219K. In the most severe cases, threat actors stole more than $5M. The real estate industry saw the worst financial fraud cases with an average stolen funds amount of $434K. 
    • At-Bay helped policyholders to recover $61M in funds from 2023 through to the first half of 2024.

• The best email service for risk 

• • • Google Workspace customers experienced 54% fewer incidents compared to the average. This was an improvement from last year, where businesses that used Google saw 41% fewer claims. Businesses using Microsoft 365 had a relative claims frequency 45% higher than the overall average, seeing worse overall outcomes compared to last year’s report.
    • In 2023, Google Workspace customers experienced 3X fewer cyber insurance claims compared to Microsoft 365 customers, further widening the gap since 2022, where Google Workspace customers experienced 2X fewer incidents than Microsoft 365.

• The best email security solutions for risk

• • Businesses using Mimecast for their email security experienced 37% fewer incidents than the average. This was the lowest claims frequency of the six email security providers analyzed and marks the second year in a row that Mimecast has topped the list.
  • Proofpoint came in second again, with a slightly improved claims frequency compared to last year. 
  • Customers using Intermedia, Barracuda, Appriver, and Sophos all saw higher email claims frequency than the average, all worsening compared with 2023. 

To download the full report and learn how organizations can better protect themselves from email crime, visit: 2024 InsurSec Rankings – Email Security and Financial Fraud Report.

Other resources:

• 2024 Analyst Report – InsurSec Can Drive An Effective Proactive Security Strategy
• 2024 InsurSec Report – Ransomware Edition. 
• 2023 InsurSec Report – Ranking Email Security Solutions