Why email security needs automated incident response
When an email threat reaches a user's inbox, the clock ticks to minimise the damage. Some threats will inevitably slip through even with the most advanced email security defences. When a malicious email does make it past initial defences, swift action is key to prevent further impact.
Most email security solutions focus on filtering out malicious emails before they ever reach an inbox. While this is an imperative first step, no system is infallible. A well-crafted phishing email, for example, might bypass even the best defences—either because it exploits a brand-new attack method or appears to come from a trusted source.
If a malicious email reaches a user's inbox, time is of the essence. Delays allow attackers to move laterally, exfiltrate sensitive data, or disrupt operations. To mitigate these risks, organisations must identify, contain, and remove threats post-delivery before they cause widespread harm.
The challenge? Many organisations struggle to identify and respond to post-delivery threats quickly enough. This is where automated Incident Response becomes essential—allowing businesses to contain threats faster, reduce IT workloads, and improve overall security effectiveness.
Benefits of automated Incident Response
Traditionally, security teams have relied on manual processes to investigate and remediate email-based threats. This approach, which involves pinpointing all recipients of a malicious email, analysing the threat, and then taking corrective action, can take hours—if not longer. With many IT teams already stretched thin and without the bandwidth to handle the volume of email threats effectively, the pressure teams are under could mean details are overlooked.
Given the increasing sophistication and frequency of email attacks, relying on manual response methods alone is no longer practical, with significant challenges. By integrating automation into incident response, organisations can shorten the time between threat detection and resolution, minimising risk and disruption.
Instead of requiring IT teams to track down and remediate individual threats manually, automated Incident Response can remove threats quickly and at scale. Automation enables security operations to detect and contain email threats in real time, instantly remove all instances of a malicious email across affected inboxes, and reduce reliance on IT teams for repetitive security tasks.
The ROI of automation
An effective automated Incident Response solution does more than just react—it enhances threat investigation by providing security teams with deeper insights. It should analyse user-reported phishing attempts to verify legitimacy, leverage threat intelligence from other organisations to identify emerging attack patterns, and offer detailed visibility into affected users and systems to assess the full scope of an incident.
Automated remediation tools should detect and remove malicious emails from all affected inboxes, quarantine potential threats to halt their spread, and dynamically adjust security filters to prevent similar attacks in the future. To enhance efficiency, automated response systems should enable security teams to create predefined workflows for managing threats. This includes features like rule-based triggers to detect suspicious activity, custom remediation playbooks for consistent and effective responses, and integration with existing security tools to streamline overall threat management processes.
Why should businesses look to automation?
Automating Incident Response strengthens security and provides clear business advantages. It enables faster threat mitigation, prevents escalation, and minimises damage.
By reducing the exposure window, automation lowers security risks while improving operational efficiency, allowing IT teams to concentrate on strategic priorities rather than repetitive tasks. Additionally, it reduces costs by eliminating the need for time-intensive manual intervention, saving valuable resources.
In an environment where attackers move quickly, security teams must move even faster. Automated Incident Response makes that possible. A proactive approach to post-delivery threat mitigation keeps organisations looking to stay ahead of evolving cyber risks because email threats don't stop at delivery, nor should security efforts.
