• by Ray Schultz , August 21, 2023

AI is not being used only by cyber felons to generate email attacks. It is also being utilized by marketers to prevent it, according to The Role of AI in Email Security, a study from Perception Point, conducted by Osterman Research. 

Nearly all of the organizations surveyed expect AI to be moderately or extremely important to their email defenses. There has been a 4x increase in those who deem it extremely important over the last 12 months. 

For instance, 92.2% agree that protecting against threats in outbound email, including misdirected emails or accidental data exposure, is important, with 46.9% saying it is extremely so. 

Another 91.4% say protecting against threats in internal email such as account takeover and internal phishing is important, and 46.5% say it is extremely critical. 

There is no mystery about why: 91.1% say they have already encountered email attacks enhanced by AI. And 84.3% expect AI will continue to be utilized to circumvent existing security systems.

Moreover, 96.9% of respondents have implemented AI-enabled email security, feeling that traditional systems were inadequate. 

Meanwhile, the respondents assign these levels of priority for addressing email security risks relative to all other security and risk initiatives:

• It is our highest priority—25%
• It is one of our top 3 priorities—52%
• It is one of our top 5 priorities—20.9%
• It is one of our top 10 priorities—0.7%
• It is not a top priority, we have already adequately solved for email for email security risks—1.4%

The study reports that buyers of AI-enabled email security want the ability to protect such communication and collaboration apps as as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Zoom, and Slack and Salesforce with with AI.

"With the relentless surge in cyberattacks, especially GenAI-fueled phishing and BEC, the imperative for inventive preventative strategies intensifies," says Yoram Salinger, CEO at Perception Point. 

Salinger adds,"As threat actors broaden their targets across messaging and communication channels, embracing emerging technologies and holistic security services that leverage AI is essential.”

Osterman Research surveyed 148 security and IT decision-makers.