In this episode of Small Business Matters, Gary Stockton interviews Stephen Jordan of Sound Cybersecurity, a noted expert in the field, about the importance of email security for small businesses. They discuss the concept of DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) and its role in preventing cyber breaches and email fraud. Stephen emphasizes the need for small businesses to implement DMARC to protect their email addresses, improve the reputation of their legitimate email messages, and be a good neighbor on the internet. He also highlights the challenges faced by small businesses in setting up and maintaining DMARC and provides advice on overcoming these obstacles. Additionally, Stephen shares real-world examples of how implementing DMARC has significantly reduced email fraud and phishing attacks for small businesses. He discusses the evolving role of DMARC in email security and predicts that it may become a requirement in the future. Stephen also addresses the importance of training employees to recognize and respond to phishing attempts effectively. Finally, he advises small businesses that outsource their email infrastructure to thoroughly evaluate the security measures in place and not to assume that everything is done.

Key Takeaways:

• DMARC is a powerful tool that can prevent cybercriminals from using a business's email addresses and improve the reputation of legitimate email messages.
• Only about 2% of all domain names have fully implemented DMARC, indicating a significant need for small businesses to prioritize email security.
• Small businesses should invest in security awareness training and testing to educate employees about phishing attempts and improve their ability to recognize and respond to them.
• Outsourcing email infrastructure does not absolve small businesses from the responsibility of ensuring email security. They should actively monitor and evaluate the security measures implemented by their email service provider.

For any resources mentioned on the show today, visit our show notes over at experian.com/smbmatters.

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