Exploring Email Security: Enhancing Protection Beyond Endpoint Solutions

There’s too much at stake in the event of a successful email attack to rely solely on endpoint threat protection, which should be considered the last line of defense—not the first—for securing email. To keep email safe in today’s digital threat environment, businesses need a comprehensive, proactive email security solution. It must intercept malicious attacks, guard against human error, and strengthen the organization’s entire email infrastructure. This article will explore the limitations of business endpoint security and how companies can bolster this protection with effective supplementary email security server defenses to mitigate the risk of suffering an attack or breach.

The Modern Email Threat Landscape is Dynamic and Complex

Email security risks have never been greater as we transition to an increasingly digital society. Attackers are taking advantage of businesses' growing reliance on cloud email. They're exploiting built-in vulnerabilities, common misconfigurations in cloud security platforms, and the distractions that come with remote work. 

To make matters worse, cybercriminals are launching sophisticated attacks. A ransomware or phishing attack tricks users into sharing sensitive credentials or locking up critical files until a ransom is paid. In the second half of 2024, there was a 703% surge in phishing attacks. 

Although ransom payments decreased from $1.25 billion in 2023 to $813.5 million in 2024, the number of breaches has increased, suggesting that criminals are not willing to stop. The average cost of a ransomware breach was $4.54 million in 2022. As of 2025, the estimated cost is $5.5-$6 million.

While email-borne cyberattacks were once simplistic “cookie-cutter” phishing campaigns exploiting unaware users, cybercriminals have since moved on. Phishing attacks are more sophisticated than ever. They are highly targeted and difficult to detect. Even experienced, security-aware users can fall for them.

Attackers often:

• Use advanced social engineering to manipulate human psychology.
• Use fileless malware tactics that exploit legitimate cybersecurity tools to evade business endpoint protection.

Malware and ransomware tactics have also evolved. In the past, the same malware file was sent to multiple users. Antivirus tools relied on file signatures to detect threats. While modern Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) platforms add behavioral analysis, even these solutions often miss email-layer threats that don't execute malicious behavior at the endpoint level.

Nowadays, attackers:

• Create unique malware files for each target.

• Often, avoid using executable files entirely, making detection harder.

The threat landscape is getting worse as cyberattacks and email breaches are increasingly common and hard to stop. 

The fallout from an attack can include:

• Data loss and theft
• Downtime and disruption
• High recovery costs
• Serious reputational damage

The stakes are especially high for endpoint security for small businesses, as over 60% of small businesses shut down within six months of a cyberattack.

Where Does Endpoint Protection Fall Short in Securing Business Email?

Endpoint protection isn’t enough anymore—and attackers know it. It alone is not enough to keep users and sensitive data safe. Here are some critical areas where endpoint security business email tools fall short in safeguarding businesses and their clients.

Critical security gaps leave corporate networks, cloud-based services, and sensitive data susceptible to attack. 

Corporate networks are more than just endpoints. They encompass the cloud, network, and log data—all of which must be secured to prevent business email compromise (BEC) and other types of fraud. Endpoint threat protection is limited to the client layer and cannot intercept traffic between an attacker and a target. Thus, endpoint security must be the last defense against cyber thieves.

There are no preventative safeguards against human error. 

Endpoint threat protection takes a non-specific, retrospective approach to addressing email security risks, leaving the responsibility of identifying and responding to these email threats in the hands of the end user. Endpoint security business providers get involved once a user has already received a malicious email and possibly disclosed sensitive credentials or downloaded malware. 

The high rate of false negatives in endpoint security solutions makes human error a significant risk. While reliable current statistics are limited, experts agree that antivirus tools can miss a substantial portion of attacks, especially customized, fileless, or zero-day threats that evade traditional detection methods. As NIST notes, “when attackers are capable of sending a unique attack to each potential victim, it should not be surprising that largely signature-based security controls, such as antivirus software, cannot keep up with them.”

AI-powered threats are outpacing traditional protections.

Today’s attackers are using artificial intelligence to supercharge phishing, impersonation, and malware delivery tactics. Deepfake audio can mimic executives to authorize fraudulent wire transfers, while large language models (LLMs) are used to craft flawless business email compromise (BEC) messages that bypass filters and fool even savvy users. Some adversarial AI tools are even trained to evade specific detection rules. Endpoint solutions simply weren’t designed for this level of sophistication—by the time they respond, the damage is often done. AI-enabled threats demand smarter, adaptive defenses that can analyze behavior, context, and intent in real time—not just static signatures or outdated heuristics.

Protection is not customized to meet businesses’ unique email security needs. 

The “one-size-fits-all” approach that is characteristic of endpoint threat protection fails to assess and cater to each organization's varying risks and requirements. Endpoint security business providers do not evaluate and specifically address factors that are at risk. It overlooks variables such as highly targeted key individuals within an organization, a company’s email security history, and other factors that must be considered to keep businesses safe.

Solutions are complex to manage and difficult to patch, leading to frequent vulnerabilities. 

Endpoint security solutions are separate from the expert ongoing system monitoring, maintenance, and support required to keep resolutions up to date and critical business assets secure. Despite advancements in automation, many organizations still face significant delays in deploying endpoint security patches, averaging between 120 and 150 days, leaving systems exposed to potential vulnerabilities.    

Many businesses, especially small- to medium-sized businesses, lack the in-house cybersecurity tools, resources, and expertise—such as a dedicated security operations center—needed to keep them safe, and endpoint security solutions cannot bolster companies’ IT security remotely to ensure they remain secure. 

Organizations need more visibility into their email security. 

Endpoint protection isn’t designed to provide companies with a clear picture of their day-to-day security risks. It falls short when it comes to helping teams make smart, proactive decisions, especially around business email compromise. When organizations rely solely on endpoint tools, they often encounter blind spots across their systems, disconnected teams, and cumbersome workflows that leave them vulnerable.

Bolster Your Email Security Strategy with Proactive Additional Protection

Maintaining a robust cybersecurity posture and experiencing longevity and success in any industry is more essential than ever. Many businesses are making a critical mistake by relying solely on endpoint security to safeguard users and critical assets. Meanwhile, others are failing to supplement these solutions with the caliber of email protection required to make it safe for business. Endpoint security is a solid first step. But on its own, it’s not enough to keep up with the pace and complexity of today’s threats. What’s missing? Proactive email protection—plus expert monitoring, regular maintenance, and real support behind the scenes. The right protection should adapt to new attacks as they emerge, offering real-time insight that helps teams make smarter security decisions and tighten enforcement where it counts.

Keep Learning About Improving Email Security

Businesses must consider the future of cybersecurity when strengthening their endpoint security. Comprehensive, proactive, and fully supported email security defenses are needed to fill the gaps in endpoint threat protection and make email safe for business.

• Prepare your business for cyberattacks to make sure employees stay safe online.
• Use the best practices for email security to improve your company's ability to protect against attacks and breaches.
• Keeping the integrity of your email safe requires securing the cloud with spam filtering and enterprise-grade anti-spam services.
• Learn more about the consequences of modern phishing attacks in our Phishing eBook.

How is your company closing the gaps in its endpoint security strategy to repel phishing, ransomware, and other dangerous, costly business email compromises? Learn about a threat-ready email security solution that picks up where endpoint protection leaves off in securing business email.

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