MFA, 2FA and Email Security: Protect Your Business Accounts

Without MFA, every mailbox becomes a potential entry point for attackers.
That’s no exaggeration. Most breaches, ransomware attacks, and stolen credentials start from email.

Whether you manage dozens of accounts for clients or just one company infrastructure, you must protect email access with MFA. It’s not optional—it’s necessary.

Once attackers gain access to an email account, they can:

• Send spam or malware while pretending to be the real sender
• Read confidential messages, orders, contracts, passwords, or customer data
• Reset credentials for other services that rely on email recovery
• If the account has admin rights, they can manipulate the infrastructure, add mailboxes, change rules, or disable antivirus and archiving

MFA and 2FA: What They Are and Why You Should Enable Them Now

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) checks the user’s identity more securely than a password alone.

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) means using exactly two authentication factors to access a service.
MFA refers more broadly to two or more factors. It includes 2FA but can also involve fingerprint scans or hardware tokens.

These factors fall into different categories:

• Something you know, like a password or PIN
• Something you have, like a phone or OTP token
• Something you are, like a fingerprint or facial recognition

Enabling MFA on business accounts sets a minimum standard for security.

Qboxmail supports 2FA by requiring both a password (something you know) and a time-based OTP code (something you have).
This combination provides a reliable and accessible way to protect email accounts.

Real Threats: Phishing, Credential Stuffing, Identity Theft

Hackers don’t need sophisticated tools. One password is often enough.
Many users reuse passwords across email, social media, and platforms.
When one of these services suffers a breach, attackers publish the credentials online or sell them on the dark web.

Credential stuffing exploits this weakness. Bots take the stolen credentials and try them on other services.
They act silently, quickly, and on a massive scale.
Users often don’t realise their accounts are under attack.

A Practical Example

An employee uses the same password for a social network and the company webmail.
That social network suffered a breach.
The password leaked online.
An attacker retrieved it and successfully logged in to the business mailbox.

This led to:

• Confidential emails being read or downloaded
• Fake invoices or payment requests sent from the account
• Unauthorised access to systems linked to that email, like customer portals or CRMs

MFA Makes the Difference

Even if attackers steal the password, they can’t log in without the second factor.
That’s why enabling MFA or 2FA acts as the first real defence against identity theft.

These aren’t “nice to have” options. They are essential safeguards for sensitive data and business email accounts.

With Qboxmail, you can offer your clients a secure, professional email platform.
Start a free 30-day trial and see how seriously we take email security.