How to Protect Your Business Email From Phishing and Hackers in 2026

Enforce Multifactor Authentication

Multifactor authentication (MFA) adds an additional verification requirement when users sign in.

Properly configured MFA helps reduce the risk of account compromise when passwords are stolen.

Businesses should prioritize phishing-resistant methods such as FIDO2 security keys and supported passkeys, especially for administrators.

• Require MFA for employee accounts.
• Protect privileged administrator accounts.
• Review registered authentication methods.
• Remove unauthorized MFA registrations.

MFA is important, but not foolproof. Additional monitoring and security controls are still necessary.

Use Advanced Phishing Protection

Basic spam filtering may not detect sophisticated phishing attacks, impersonation attempts, or malicious links.

Advanced email security tools can help identify suspicious messages, dangerous attachments, unusual sender behavior, and potential credential theft attempts.

Orobi provides managed email security solutions designed to strengthen business email protection.

Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

Email authentication helps receiving mail systems determine whether a message claiming to represent a business domain is properly authorized.

SPF: Identifies authorized mail servers for a domain.

DKIM: Uses digital signatures to help verify message integrity and the signing domain.

DMARC: Provides policies and reporting for messages that fail aligned authentication checks.

Together, these controls can help reduce direct-domain spoofing and support trustworthy email delivery.

However, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC cannot prevent every form of phishing and must be configured carefully.

Monitor Suspicious Account Activity

Account monitoring helps identify potentially unauthorized sign-ins, suspicious application access, forwarding rule changes, and other unexpected mailbox activity.

Important events to investigate include:

• Unexpected login and authentication activity.
• Unauthorized mailbox forwarding rules.
• Unusual email sending patterns.
• Changes to account permissions.
• Suspicious application connections.

Monitoring should be paired with a defined investigation and response process so alerts receive appropriate attention.

Provide Employee Phishing Awareness Training

Employees should understand how to recognize suspicious communication and report potential security threats.

Security awareness training should address fake login pages, executive impersonation, suspicious attachments, malicious QR codes, fraudulent payment requests, and AI-assisted phishing attempts.

Regular training and thoughtful phishing simulations can help reinforce security awareness across the organization.

Independently Verify Payment Requests

Business email compromise frequently involves fraudulent invoices, changes to payment instructions, or urgent requests to transfer funds.

Employees should verify sensitive financial requests through a trusted, previously established communication channel.

For example, if a vendor sends an unexpected email requesting a banking change, contact that vendor using a verified phone number already on file.

Additional approval procedures for high-value transactions can further reduce the risk of financial fraud.

Secure Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace

Email security also depends on the identity and cloud systems supporting employee mailboxes.

For Microsoft 365, businesses should review Entra identity security, Exchange Online permissions, MFA, conditional access where supported, administrator access, and monitoring.

For Google Workspace, important areas include two-step verification, administrative controls, Gmail security settings, OAuth application restrictions, and user account management.

Both platforms require ongoing configuration reviews and appropriate security policies.

Limit Unnecessary Account Permissions

Employees should only have access to the systems and information needed to perform their jobs.

Businesses should regularly review administrative permissions, shared mailbox access, third-party application connections, and inactive accounts.

Removing unnecessary privileges helps reduce the potential impact of an account compromise.

Develop an Email Incident Response Plan

Organizations should know what to do when a mailbox is compromised or an employee reports suspicious activity.

1. Report the incident to the IT or security team.
2. Preserve relevant evidence and account logs.
3. Contain unauthorized access.
4. Revoke compromised authentication sessions.
5. Review authentication methods and permissions.
6. Inspect forwarding rules and suspicious applications.
7. Assess possible data exposure and financial impact.
8. Restore secure operations and document lessons learned.

Resetting a password alone may not fully resolve a compromise if unauthorized sessions, forwarding rules, or application permissions remain active.

Conduct Regular Email Security Reviews

Email security should not be treated as a one-time configuration project.

Businesses regularly add employees, applications, devices, and vendors. These changes can introduce additional security risks.

Routine reviews should evaluate authentication settings, domain protection, mailbox permissions, phishing controls, account monitoring, and incident readiness.