The Red Sift Blog

Staying ahead of AI-powered brand impersonation
Executive summary: AI has supercharged brand impersonation, with Q2 2024 seeing nearly half of all processed emails containing spoofing or phishing attempts—40% of which were AI-generated. The scale, speed, and sophistication of these attacks are overwhelming security teams, draining resources on false positives, and leaving critical threats undetected. Consumers are unforgiving when trust is breached—most...Continue Reading: Staying ahead of AI-powered brand impersonation

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AI

Staying ahead of AI-powered brand impersonation

Rahul Powar

Executive summary: AI has supercharged brand impersonation, with Q2 2024 seeing nearly half of all processed emails containing spoofing or phishing attempts—40% of which were AI-generated. The scale, speed, and sophistication of these attacks are overwhelming security teams, draining resources on false positives, and leaving critical threats undetected. Consumers are unforgiving when trust is…

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BEC

What is email spoofing and how can you prevent it?

Faisal Misle

Executive summary: Email spoofing is a growing cyber threat where attackers forge the sender’s address to impersonate trusted sources, enabling phishing, business email compromise, and financial fraud. Because legacy email protocols like SMTP lack strong authentication, spoofing can bypass traditional filters. Organizations can mitigate this risk by implementing robust email authentication measures, especially DMARC.…

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Email

What is social engineering and how can you prevent it?

Jack Lilley

Executive summary: Email phishing has evolved and criminals now use social engineering to impersonate executives, suppliers, and even government agencies, persuading recipients to approve payments or disclose credentials. Because human judgment sits at the heart of these attacks, technical controls that eliminate spoofed messages before they reach the inbox are essential. DMARC provides that…

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Cybersecurity

Attackers are abusing Microsoft 365: Here’s how to stay protected

Jack Lilley

Executive summary: Varonis has surfaced an active phishing campaign that spoofs internal users by abusing Microsoft 365’s Direct Send feature. Because Direct Send doesn’t require authentication and is treated as “internal,” these messages often bypass the checks you rely on for outside mail. Microsoft now offers an opt-in switch, RejectDirectSend, to block the pathway,…

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BEC

SVGs with JavaScript are bypassing traditional email security: Learn how to stay…

Jack Lilley

Executive summary: Hackers are hiding JavaScript inside SVG attachments that pass as harmless images, and slipping past Secure Email Gateways (SEGs). To stay secure, organizations need to enforce a DMARC policy of p=reject, easily implemented with Red Sift OnDMARC, to stop compromised SVGs before they reach the end user. Key takeaways: Scalable Vector Graphics…

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DMARC

More than 50% of US banks remain vulnerable to phishing attacks

Stuart Rogers

Executive summary: Over half of major U.S. banks remain exposed to phishing attacks because of weak or absent DMARC enforcement, despite rising cybercrime losses and increasingly sophisticated email threats. Operational challenges, regulatory gaps, and underestimation of risk hinder stronger protections, putting customer trust and financial stability in jeopardy. Key takeaways Email remains the primary…

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Product Release

Stream Red Sift telemetry to Sentinel, Splunk, and more with Event Hub

Francesca Rünger-Field

Event Hub is a new capability that streams real-time, structured security events from Red Sift products into the platforms security teams already use: SIEMs, SOARs, XDRs, ticketing tools, messaging platforms, and cloud storage. It enables faster, more consistent response by pushing telemetry directly into the workflows where detection, triage, and remediation already happen. Whether…

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Thought Leadership

How the EU can mandate stronger email security

Antony Seedhouse

Executive summary: The article examines how the EU can proactively close email security gaps by leveraging the NIS2 Directive to mandate robust, harmonized standards like DMARC, DKIM, and SPF across all member states. By acting now, the EU not only protects its digital ecosystem but also sets a global benchmark for cybersecurity best practices.…

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News

Europe’s #1 for DMARC: Red Sift OnDMARC does it again

Francesca Rünger-Field

G2’s Summer 2025 Report has landed, and we’re proud to share that Red Sift OnDMARC remains the #1-rated DMARC solution in Europe. This marks another strong season for OnDMARC, with continued recognition across G2’s category reports. We were featured in 18 reports this quarter, taking top spots in the Mid-Market Results Index and Mid-Market…

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Cybersecurity

Healthcare and cybersecurity: 73% of breaches lack DMARC enforcement

Faisal Misle

The healthcare sector has become a target for both low-level and occasionally spectacularly successful cyberattacks. Hospitals, insurers, medical supply chains, service providers and medical organizations are prime targets for threat actors, with email phishing attacks, ransomware, and data breaches on the rise. In 2024, 94% of U.S. healthcare organizations experienced a cyberattack, with the average cost…

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BIMI

VMC and CMC: What are the new requirements?

Jack Lilley

Executive Summary: Staying updated on Verified Mark Certificates (VMCs) and Certified Mark Certificates (CMCs) is crucial for organizations aiming to authenticate their logos and enhance brand trust in email communications. Discover the key changes in the latest security requirements and compare the differences between VMCs and CMCs.​ This article: Introduction Verified Mark Certificates (VMCs) and…

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BEC

The future of email security: Innovations, challenges, and the role of DMARC

Jack Lilley

Executive summary: Email remains a critical tool for business and personal communication, but it is also a primary target for cyber threats such as phishing, spoofing, and Business Email Compromise. As attackers become more sophisticated, organizations must adopt advanced security measures like DMARC and stay informed about emerging authentication protocols. Industry collaboration and proactive…

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Aviation

Why implementing DMARC is essential for Aviation

Jack Lilley

If you’re in aviation and not yet at DMARC enforcement (p=reject), you’re behind. Cyberattacks on airlines, airports, and aerospace companies are up 131% in just one year. Phishing and Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams are hammering the industry, costing millions, causing chaos, and damaging customer trust. Attackers aren’t just targeting your customers; they’re using your…

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News

Red Sift Brand Trust joins Cisco portfolio to extend domain and brand…

Francesca Rünger-Field

Many organizations have implemented email authentication and hardened their owned domains against abuse. But a more exposed and less controlled surface remains: the brand. With the ease and efficiency of AI tools, brand impersonation has become a successful tactic for bypassing technical controls and targeting users directly. While email authentication protocols like DMARC can…

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AI

Red Sift debuts the industry’s first AI Agent for lookalike classification

Francesca Rünger-Field

As brand impersonation grows in scale and sophistication, security teams face a dual challenge: uncovering the full extent of the threat and deciding what to do with what they find. For many, the first hurdle—detection—remains a work in progress. But for those with mature discovery pipelines, a new problem has emerged: volume. As visibility…

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DMARC

Why DMARC should top your MSP roadmap in 2025

Jack Lilley

Executive summary: Email remains the easiest way for criminals to reach customers, and major mailbox providers have decided that unauthenticated mail is no longer welcome. Google and Yahoo started rejecting bulk messages without DMARC in early 2024, and Microsoft 365 will follow in 2025. Yet only 9.7% of the world’s 73 million active domains…

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Product Release

Red Sift’s 2025 Spring Quarterly Product Release

Francesca Rünger-Field

This Spring, we’ve delivered targeted updates to improve compliance, simplify certificate management, and strengthen infrastructure visibility—so you can take action faster and with more confidence. Highlights include: OnDMARC BIMI: Now with full Digicert & CMC support OnDMARC customers that wish to improve trust in their emails and boost open rates by implementing BIMI through…

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BEC

The threat of Business Email Compromise in US healthcare

Jack Lilley

Executive summary: Business Email Compromise is siphoning billions from US healthcare by exploiting human trust instead of software flaws. Spoofed or hijacked messages authorize fraudulent payments, spark ransomware, and expose patient data—causing crippling financial, operational, and compliance damage. Deploying DMARC, MFA, and rigorous multi-person payment checks is now critical. 3 key takeaways Business Email…

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Email

Cloudflare selects Red Sift as a preferred partner to provide DMARC and…

Rebecca Warren

AI-generated email attacks are rapidly growing in scale and sophistication, demanding stronger defenses from at-risk organizations. Starting today, Red Sift is excited to announce a new strategic partnership with Cloudflare, the leading connectivity cloud company, to deliver its market-leading email security application, Red Sift OnDMARC, to a broader global audience.  Today’s alignment enhances Cloudflare’s…

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Cybersecurity

New Zealand moves to mandate DMARC enforcement

Jack Lilley

Executive summary: New Zealand’s Secure Government Email Framework mandates DMARC at p=reject—plus hard-fail SPF, universal DKIM, enforced MTA-STS, and TLS-RPT—by October 2025. The rules replace SEEMail, curb soaring phishing losses, and affect every organization that emails the public sector. Key takeaways: The New Zealand Government has recently published the Secure Government Email (SGE) Common Implementation…

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BEC

DMARC: The best ROI for your organization

Jack Lilley

Executive summary: Implementing DMARC delivers one of the clearest, fastest returns on investment in email security. By authenticating outgoing mail and blocking spoofed messages, DMARC cuts the direct costs of phishing and Business Email Compromise, safeguards brand reputation, and boosts deliverability—ultimately driving revenue and trimming operational workload. Key takeaways: Email is a critical communication tool for…

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