Email Security: What It Is, How It Works, and Best Protection Methods

This KnowBe4 whitepaper summarizes how email-based threats have evolved and recommends a layered email security approach that combines pre-delivery filtering, inbox analysis, outbound DLP, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), continuous security awareness training, and automated incident response. It outlines common threats (phishing, spear phishing, BEC, malware, and accidental data leakage), highlights human factors like alert fatigue, and describes KnowBe4 solutions (Defend, Prevent, PhishER, HRM+) that support these controls and behaviors to reduce human-driven email risk.