Anti-Phishing Protection for Business: Block Targeted Attacks Before They Land

The Phishing Threat Facing UK SMEs

Phishing attacks have evolved significantly from the generic 'Nigerian prince' emails of the past. Today's campaigns are frequently targeted — researched to impersonate a supplier, colleague, or executive whose name the recipient will recognise. Business email compromise (BEC) attacks specifically target finance teams with fabricated payment diversion requests. Credential phishing lures direct staff to convincing copies of Microsoft 365 or banking login pages.

47% rise in attacks evading Microsoft's native defences and secure email gateways (SEGs) — KnowBe4 2025 Phishing Benchmark Report. (Microsoft)

Stolen or compromised credentials were the initial attack vector in 22% of data breaches in 2024 — the single largest cause of breaches, surpassing phishing (16%) and software vulnerabilities (Verizon DBIR 2025). (ITPro)

Security Management is the fastest-growing MDM segment, driven by mobile ransomware and phishing threats (Yahoo Finance MDM report, 2025). (Uk)

The financial consequences of a successful phishing attack can include fraudulent payment transfers, ransomware deployment, or extended access by an attacker who uses stolen credentials to access your business data. For SMEs, even a single successful phishing attack can have serious consequences.

The Two Layers of Anti-Phishing Defence

Effective anti-phishing requires both technical controls and human awareness working together. Technical controls filter and block as many phishing emails as possible before they reach staff. Human awareness training ensures that emails which do get through are more likely to be recognised and reported rather than clicked.

Neither layer alone is sufficient. Technical filtering, however good, will not catch every targeted attack — particularly those sent from compromised legitimate accounts. And staff awareness training, without technical controls to reduce the volume of threats, places an unreasonable burden on employees to be the last line of defence on every single email they receive.

Technical Anti-Phishing Controls

AMVIA deploys Barracuda Email Security Gateway as a dedicated filtering layer in front of Microsoft 365 mailboxes. This provides multi-layer analysis of inbound email: sender reputation scoring, header analysis for spoofed sending domains, link analysis and time-of-click URL scanning, attachment sandboxing, and AI-based content analysis that identifies phishing indicators that signature-based tools miss.

DMARC, DKIM, and SPF are configured to enforce email authentication. DMARC at p=reject or p=quarantine prevents your domain from being used to send spoofed emails to your clients and partners, and filters spoofed inbound email claiming to be from legitimate senders. Many UK SMEs have DMARC configured at p=none (monitoring only) — which provides no active protection.

Display Name and Impersonation Attacks

One common phishing technique involves registering a lookalike domain — amvia-uk.com instead of amvia.co.uk, for example — or simply setting a display name to look like a trusted person without spoofing the domain. AMVIA configures impersonation protection rules to flag emails where the display name matches an executive or key contact but the sending domain is unfamiliar.

Rules are also applied for lookalike domain detection — identifying domains that are visually similar to your own or to known suppliers. These are common in targeted attacks and are not caught by standard spam filters without specific configuration.

Phishing Simulation and Staff Training

Staff training is most effective when it is practical and contextual. AMVIA's phishing simulation service sends realistic test phishing emails to your team — impersonating internal communications, delivery notifications, or Microsoft 365 alerts — and tracks who clicks links or enters credentials. Those who fail receive immediate in-the-moment training, followed by targeted learning modules.

Simulation campaigns are repeated regularly to maintain awareness and track improvement over time. Quarterly reports show click rates by department and over time, allowing you to target training at the areas of highest risk.

Reporting and Incident Response

AMVIA configures phishing report buttons in Microsoft 365, allowing staff to report suspicious emails with a single click. Reported emails are reviewed by AMVIA's security team. Where a genuine phishing campaign is identified, AMVIA can retrospectively purge matching emails from all affected mailboxes and implement blocking rules to prevent further delivery.

Monthly email security reports cover the volume of threats blocked, phishing simulation results, and any incidents investigated during the period.