Barracuda Networks Unveils Channel-Ready Email Fraud Training Product

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Barracuda Networks has expanded its PhishLine product portfolio with a streamlined edition geared toward organizations with less than 1,000 employees. It’s ready for distribution through the reseller channel.

PhishLine can prevent email fraud, data loss and brand damage by training and testing employees to recognize highly targeted phishing attacks, the company said. It’s now available in multiple versions to suit the needs of organizations of all sizes.

Barracuda’s Ezra Hookano

Ezra Hookano, Barracuda’s vice president of channels, tells Channel Partners said the new PhishLine service provides new opportunities for partners, especially those that have a strong focus on email security.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned about today’s email security threats, it’s that you need more than the latest security technologies to stop them,” he said. “Users are a huge piece [of] this, and if your users aren’t aware of the threats, how to identify them, or the damage that could be caused, there’s a greater risk to your organization.”

Businesses of all sizes and employees of all levels are possible targets for social engineering, spear phishing and business email-compromise scams, Hookano said.

“This is a great conversation for the channel to be having with their customers because it goes beyond the technology,” he said. “These types of threats require human interaction for criminals to reach success, and if the users aren’t familiar with what to look out for, the risk is much greater.”

First, PhishLine’s computer-based training gives users a baseline understanding of the latest techniques attackers are using. And second, it embeds learning into business processes, by launching customized simulations that test and reinforce good user behavior. A “large library of curated content means faster time to value, while rich reporting and analytics provide visibility,” the company said.

“As phishing attacks have become increasingly stealthy and targeted, our adversaries have shifted their focus from the largest organizations to smaller targets,” said Hatem Naguib, Barracuda’s senior vice president and general manager of security. “Today’s announcement expands our PhishLine portfolio by building on our enterprise grade offering with a solution aimed specifically at simplicity and fast time to value, fit for today’s resource-constrained midsize businesses.”

Also Tuesday, Barracuda revealed key findings from a new global study that highlight the need for organizations to include training and simulation as part of their overall email-security strategy. The study includes responses from more than 630 participants who all had a responsibility for email security in their organizations.

“Eighty-seven percent of the respondents said that their company faced an attempted email-based attack last year,” Hookano said. “That’s a huge number, and all the more reason for organizations to make sure they’ve done everything they can to protect and prepare their users.”

Nearly all (98 percent} respondents said their organization would benefit from additional email-security capabilities, with phishing simulation (63 percent), social-engineering detection (62 percent), email encryption (60 percent), and data-loss prevention (59 percent) leading the way in terms of capabilities valued.

In addition, all of the respondents have good intentions and believe that user training is important; however, just three in four (77 percent) are training their employees. It also was reported that larger organizations, with more than 1,000 employees, are more likely to train their staff.

Poor employee behavior (84 percent) is a greater email security concern than inadequate tools (16 percent), according to the study; however, there’s no consensus on the level of employee that will fall for an attack.