Inside Mimecast’s The State Of Brand Protection 2021

Top Business Tech takes a closer look at Mimecast’s The State Of Brand Protection 2021, which examines the drastic rise of online brand impersonation and how companies can better defend themselves. 

Mimecast’s latest research, The State of Brand Protection 2021 (SOBP), is based on the billions of emails that it monitors on behalf of its customers. The outbreak of COVID-19 has provided a wealth of opportunities for cybercriminals to infiltrate organisations. One of the most rapidly growing criminal behaviours is brand impersonation. Mimecast reports that in the final months of 2020, the 100 most valuable brands globally were impersonated around 715,600 emails per month. This places even more emphasis on the need for users to educate themselves on phishing attacks, as the number of user clicks on unsafe email URLs was 84.5% higher in January 2021 than January 2020.

An accelerating threat 

According to Mimecast, over 27 million brand impersonations emails per month were detected en route to the software company’s customers in 2020, marking an evident increase in threats during the virus outbreak.

When brand impersonation was about bootleg products, there was a time identifiable by shoddy stitchwork or a wonky logo on a physical effect. Still, brand impersonation has gone digital evolved beyond far easy recognition. It has adopted even more agility in the digital age. Mimecast’s report found that no company was exempt from this threat; B2Bs and B2Cs were vulnerable to such exploitation. In most cases, organisations were not aware that cybercriminals were impersonating them online. This threat is possible at any digital touchpoint, from texts and emails to social media outlets and job adverts. 

READ MORE:

Taking a proactive approach 

Mimecast’s report outlines a five-point strategy to assist marketing and security teams in collaborating to develop a brand safety strategy that can meet evolving threats head-on.

Click here to read Mimecast’s 5 steps to stop brand impersonation.

For more news from Top Business Tech, don’t forget to subscribe to our daily bulletin!

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter

Amber Donovan-Stevens

Amber is a Content Editor at Top Business Tech

Birmingham Unveils the UK’s Best Emerging HealthTech Advances

Kosta Mavroulakis • 03rd April 2025

The National HealthTech Series hosted its latest event in Birmingham this month, showcasing innovative startups driving advanced health technology, including AI-assisted diagnostics, wearable devices and revolutionary educational tools for healthcare professionals. Health stakeholders drawn from the NHS, universities, industry and front-line patient care met with new and emerging businesses to define the future trajectory of...

Why DEIB is Imperative to Tech’s Future

Hadas Almog from AppsFlyer • 17th March 2025

We’ve been seeing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives being cut time and time again throughout the tech industry. DEIB dedicated roles have been eliminated, employee resource groups have lost funding, and initiatives once considered crucial have been deprioritised in favour of “more immediate business needs.” The justification for these cuts is often the...

The need to eradicate platform dependence

Sue Azari • 10th March 2025

The advertising industry is undergoing a seismic shift. Connected TV (CTV), Retail Media Networks (RMNs), and omnichannel strategies are rapidly redefining how brands engage with consumers. As digital privacy regulations evolve and platform dynamics shift, advertisers must recognise a fundamental truth. You cannot build a sustainable business on borrowed ground. The recent uncertainty surrounding TikTok...

The need to clean data for effective insight

David Sheldrake • 05th March 2025

There is more data today than ever before. In fact, the total amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed globally has now reached an incredible 149 zettabytes. The growth of the big mountain is not expected to slow down, either, with it expected to reach almost 400 zettabytes within the next three years. Whilst...

What can be done to democratize VDI?

Dennis Damen • 05th March 2025

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) offers businesses enhanced security, scalability, and compliance, yet it remains a niche technology. One of the biggest barriers to widespread adoption is a severe talent gap. Many IT professionals lack hands-on VDI experience, as their careers begin with physical machines and increasingly shift toward cloud-based services. This shortage has created a...

Tech and Business Outlook: US Confident, European Sentiment Mixed

Viva Technology • 11th February 2025

The VivaTech Confidence Barometer, now in its second edition, reveals strong confidence among tech executives regarding the impact of emerging technologies on business competitiveness, particularly AI, which is expected to have the most significant impact in the near future. Surveying tech leaders from Europe and North America, 81% recognize their companies as competitive internationally, with...