Ethical Hacking News
Government and healthcare sectors are woefully unprepared when it comes to protecting against phishing attacks via email. A recent report by Comparitech reveals that nearly 8% of organizations have zero protection in place, while only 0.6% scored full marks. The study highlights the need for stricter regulations and better practices to improve global email security.
The government and healthcare sectors are weak links in protecting against phishing attacks, according to a recent report. Nearly 8% of organizations had zero protection in place, while only 0.6% scored full marks. China's government domains were the weakest, with an average score of 0.9 and 65% having no protection at all. The healthcare sector ranked second-worst, with Chinese provider domains averaging 2.1 and 45% fully unprotected. Technology companies led the field in email security, followed by countries like Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Maintaining a proper MTA-STS protocol was almost universally ignored, affecting nearly all domains. The report emphasizes the need for stricter regulations, better practices, increased awareness, and education regarding email-based cyber attacks.
The recent report by Comparitech has shed light on a concerning trend in global email security, highlighting that government and healthcare sectors are among the weakest links in protecting against phishing attacks. The study, which analyzed live DNS records for 5,849 domains across 13 sectors, found that nearly 8% of organizations had zero protection in place, while only 0.6% scored full marks.
The report, published on July 3, 2026, revealed that the government sector was the weakest link, with an average score of 2.73 out of 8. China's government domains averaged just 0.9, with 65% having no protection at all. France wasn't far behind, averaging 1.4 and 47% unprotected.
The healthcare sector fared no better, ranking second-worst with an average score of 3.43. Chinese healthcare provider domains averaged 2.1, with 45% fully unprotected. The Netherlands, however, stood out as the outlier in healthcare, averaging 6.0 with zero unprotected domains and four domains scoring perfect marks.
The report also highlighted that technology companies led the field with an average score of 4.83, followed by countries such as Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Asian countries, including China, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan, ranked among the lowest in terms of email security scores.
MTA-STS, a protocol that enforces encrypted connections for email transfer, was almost universally ignored, with only 3% of all domains having it in place. SPF and DMARC policies were present on most domains, but enforcement was a significant issue. A policy set to p=none would not stop phishing emails from reaching inboxes.
The report concluded that each industry and country has room for improvement when it comes to email security, highlighting the importance of stricter regulations and better practices. The findings also underscored the need for increased awareness and education among organizations and individuals regarding the risks associated with email-based cyber attacks.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Global-Email-Security-Lapses-Exposed-A-Review-of-Cybersecurity-Vulnerabilities-Across-Sectors-ehn.shtml
https://securityaffairs.com/194677/security/government-and-healthcare-are-the-weakest-links-in-global-email-security.html
Published: Fri Jul 3 04:22:19 2026 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
