When someone's email login details are stolen or guessed, it means an unauthorized person can access your business email account. This is a serious issue because email often contains sensitive information, including client data, contracts, and internal communications. If a hacker gets in, they can read emails, send messages pretending to be your staff, or even reset passwords for other business systems linked to that email.
Why this matters for Canadian SMBs
For small and mid-sized Canadian businesses, compromised email credentials can lead to significant disruptions. Attackers might use your email to launch phishing attacks on your customers or partners, damaging trust and your reputation. There's also the risk of data breaches that could expose personal information, which may trigger privacy compliance concerns under Canadian regulations like PIPEDA. Beyond compliance, downtime caused by locked or hijacked accounts can slow down your team and delay critical business operations.
A real-world scenario
Imagine a 50-person professional services firm in Toronto using Microsoft 365 for email and document storage. One employee's email is compromised because they reused a weak password. The attacker sends fake invoices to clients requesting payments to a fraudulent account. The firm only discovers the fraud after a client calls to verify a payment, causing confusion and lost revenue. A managed IT provider quickly steps in, resets all passwords, enables multi-factor authentication (MFA), monitors for unusual activity, and helps communicate with affected clients to restore trust.
Immediate steps to take if you suspect compromised email credentials
- Change passwords immediately: Ensure the affected account and any linked accounts use strong, unique passwords.
- Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA): This adds a second verification step and greatly reduces the risk of future breaches.
- Review recent account activity: Check for unusual logins or sent messages to identify the scope of the breach.
- Notify your IT provider or security team: They can help contain the breach and prevent further damage.
- Inform affected clients or partners: Transparency helps maintain trust and mitigates reputational harm.
- Audit access permissions: Confirm that no unauthorized changes were made to email forwarding rules or access rights.
- Verify backups: Ensure critical data is backed up and recoverable in case of data loss.
Questions to ask your IT provider
- Do you enforce or support multi-factor authentication for all email accounts?
- How do you monitor for suspicious login attempts or unusual email activity?
- What is your process for responding to compromised credentials?
- Can you assist with employee training on strong password practices and phishing awareness?
- How often do you review and update email security policies?
Protecting your business email is essential to maintaining operational continuity and client confidence. If you're unsure about your current email security posture or want to prepare for potential threats, consider consulting a trusted managed IT provider. They can assess your risks, implement safeguards like MFA and monitoring, and help your team respond quickly if credentials are compromised.