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Email is the primary attack vector.
Is yours protected?
Technical review and phishing simulation of your email security posture. SPF, DKIM, DMARC, gateway effectiveness, and user resilience. All tested.
What is an email security risk assessment?
You know email is how most attacks begin. You have DNS records, a mail gateway, and users who click links. You get a complete picture of your email security: from DNS configuration to gateway effectiveness to user behaviour under simulated phishing. The assessment tests both the technical controls that should stop malicious email and the human layer that handles what gets through.
Email Security Risk Assessment: the full picture
Email remains the primary attack vector for targeted attacks on organisations. Phishing, business email compromise, and CEO fraud all start with email. An email security risk assessment evaluates how well your email infrastructure is protected against these threats.
The team examines both the technical configuration (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, mail gateway) and operational resilience. Are DNS records correctly configured? Are spoofing attempts blocked? How effective is the mail gateway at filtering phishing and malware? And what happens when a phishing email does get through?
In addition to the technical assessment, the team tests actual effectiveness with simulated attacks. Emails with phishing indicators, suspicious attachments, and social engineering techniques are sent to observe what filters allow through and how the organisation responds. The result is a complete picture of your email security from DNS configuration to user awareness.
Three email security gaps that attackers exploit daily
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Missing or unenforced DMARC allows domain spoofing
Without a DMARC reject policy, attackers can send emails that appear to come from your domain to your customers, partners, and employees. The damage to trust and security is immediate.
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Gateways miss sophisticated phishing
Advanced phishing campaigns use legitimate cloud services, typosquat domains, and zero-day techniques that signature-based gateways do not catch. Only a live simulation reveals what actually gets through.
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BEC attacks bypass all technical controls
Business email compromise uses socially engineered emails from legitimate or look-alike accounts. No technical filter stops a convincing email asking finance to redirect a payment to a new account.
Scope of the email security risk assessment
How DEFION conducts an email security risk assessment
Scoping
Inventory of email domains, mail infrastructure, and existing security measures.
Technical analysis
Review of DNS records, mailserver configuration, and gateway settings.
Phishing simulation
Sending simulated phishing emails with varying techniques to test filter effectiveness.
Configuration review
Assessment of O365/Google Workspace security settings, forwarding rules, and DLP policies.
Reporting
Report with findings, risk assessment, and step-by-step improvement plan.
Debrief
Walkthrough of results with your team including prioritised remediation guidance.
Deliverables
- Executive summary
- Technical report with configuration assessments
- DMARC/SPF/DKIM compliance overview
- Phishing simulation results
- Improvement plan with prioritisation
- Report debrief
Who is an email security risk assessment for?
Any organisation that relies on email for business communication faces email-based attack risk. The question is not whether attackers will try, but whether your defences are ready.
- Organisations that have experienced phishing or BEC attacks
- Companies that want to implement or strengthen their DMARC policy
- IT teams that want to validate the effectiveness of their email security
- Organisations in regulated sectors where email security is mandatory
FAQ
Is DMARC alone not enough?
Is real phishing sent to our employees?
How quickly can we set DMARC to enforcement?
Can this be combined with security awareness training?
What if we have multiple email domains?
Ready to assess your email security?
Tell us your email infrastructure and domains. We start the assessment within days.