MDaemon Technologies Blog

As a small business, what do you do when the big players in a mission-critical industry such as email don’t meet your business’ needs? You find a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution with great customer service – the kind developed by an industry expert. That’s how MDaemon Technologies came to be the email security provider for one specialty retailer in Texas.

Costs, Control, Ease of Use

In 2010, the 125 employees of a county in east Illinois -- and their hardworking IT director -- needed a robust, well-integrated email and collaboration solution that accommodated all the security and regulatory needs of county government. It was critical that the solution also be cost-effective and a breeze to use. The cost/benefit analysis left no doubt that MDaemon was the best solution for their needs.

“I’m a ‘one-man band’ supporting a small county government in the middle of nowhere,” the IT director said. “And we needed a much more robust email solution than was being provided by a local ISP.”

An IT director single-handedly supports 200 employees across ten facilities in a north Texas municipality, including the county courthouse, sheriff’s office, jail, probation offices, and volunteer fire and rescue. 

2020 has been a banner year for cybercriminals. They have stolen billions of dollars and data on billions of individuals by preying on widespread fear and uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A brief glance through my spam folder in MDaemon Webmail recently reminded me of the need for on-going education on the topic of phishing and Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams. I’d like to be able to tell you that the recent crush of cyberattacks on the healthcare sector, as exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has run its course – but then I’d be the one scamming. Looking through the latest Health IT Security monthly news archive turns up a long litany of phishing, ransomware, malware, spoofing, password theft and other data leaks, and server vulnerabilities that affect millions of patients and financial donors – and it’s not even the end of the month.

It's just a fact of life: If there's email, there will always be spam. If you’re involved with email security for a healthcare organization, 2020 is absolutely the year you can’t afford not to take this seriously. The healthcare sector has become a major target for cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, and these attacks are successful so often that Becker’s Hospital Review publishes a monthly update on healthcare provider malware, ransomware and phishing incidents. The most recent list includes:

Whether you run a multi-campus medical center or a small private practice, you’ve likely heard about cyber criminals who try to trick you and your employees into clicking a link or downloading an attachment so they can steal your organization’s money or protected data.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of cloud services across all industries, but particularly for healthcare providers. If your healthcare organization is considering moving your email from on-premise servers to the cloud, you must do your due diligence around significant security drawbacks that may overshadow the perceived benefits.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a boon for bad actors across the digital landscape. In July, for instance, authorities in the U.S., U.K. and Canada all issued warnings about serious cyberattacks against healthcare organizations and others involved in the coronavirus response. The purpose of these attacks? Theft of intellectual property during the race to develop a vaccine. The tool of choice? Spear-phishing email attacks.

Online scams are nothing new -- but as email has evolved and improved, so have scammers and the messages they send. Nefarious emails, attachments and links now appear sophisticated and look legitimate, sometimes tricking even the most meticulous user.