New Option for Detecting and Responding to Incidents Caused by Dangerous E-mails Now Available
— m-FILTER@Cloud D-Alert Reporting Service implementable at low cost —

Information security solutions provider Digital Arts Inc. (headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Toshio Dogu; hereinafter referred to as "Digital Arts"; Code 2326) is pleased to announce that it released m-FILTER@Cloud D-Alert Reporting Service on February 13 for customers using the cloud-based e-mail security product m-FILTER@Cloud. The service detects cybersecurity incidents caused by dangerous se-mails and informs users how to respond to the incidents.

Specialized organizations that can detect and respond to security incidents are becoming ever more important, but due to resource constraints, they can be hard to establish.

In recent years, the number of cyberattacks has been increasing and their methods are becoming more sophisticated. Malware entry routes have also diversified including VPN vulnerabilities, remote desktops, web access, and emails. It is becoming increasingly difficult to completely defend against these intensifying attacks. And in order to minimize damage, organizations dedicated to incident detection and response, such as SOCs (Security Operation Centers) and CSIRTs (Computer Security Incident Response Teams), are becoming increasingly important. However, only 38.2% of the companies and organizations surveyed by Digital Arts have a dedicated organization for incident response*1. This suggests that many companies and organizations have difficulty in having these specialized organizations due to a lack of human or financial resources.

D-Alert, a cyber risk information provision service using the functions of i-FILTER and m-FILTER

Digital Arts offers i-FILTER, a web security product, and m-FILTER, an email security product, to protect against attacks from malware entry routes of the internet and email. i-FILTER features a database covering searchable URLs in Japan that blocks access to dangerous websites and unknown threats, creating a network in which only websites that Digital Arts has determined to be safe can be accessed. Meanwhile, m-FILTER has a database that collects combinations of IP addresses and domains of email senders ensuring that only safe emails are received.

By utilizing both, Digital Arts have created a system called whitelisting, which only allows access to websites and emails that we have deemed safe. Whitelisting protects the networks of 11 million *2users from known and unknown malware, and to date, we have received zero reports of infection*3.

D-Alert, which Digital Arts began offering in 2018, is a service that uses information on websites and emails collected through i-FILTER Ver. 10, m-FILTER Ver. 5, i-FILTER@Cloud, and m-FILTER@Cloud to notify customers of accessing dangerous websites and receiving dangerous emails. Depending on customers' settings, dangerous websites can still be accessed and dangerous emails be received. However, when this happens, Digital Arts will send a D-Alart email to the customer that includes the date and time of occurrence, the accessed URL or email information, and the steps to take.

D-Alert Reporting Service promptly detects dangerous incoming and outgoing emails and provides information on how to respond

Attackers often use emails as a route for malware infection. To prevent incidents, it is necessary to quickly identify who sent and received what kind of email. The conventional D-Alert could tell that a dangerous email had been received, but it did not know which user received it, when it was received, and what kind of email it was. Identifying the user by checking the IoC (Indicator of Compromise) and other data on the D-Alert page was left to the user.

The new D-Alert Reporting Service provides customers using m-FILTER@Cloud with reports on the detection of dangerous emails, detailed information on them, and how to respond to them. When a D-Alert occurs, Digital Arts' Security Research Lab*4 automatically examines the email access logs of service subscribers on behalf of them, and notifies them of dangerous emails sent and received on their network as a D-Alert Report including the sender and recipient user names.

Because D-Alerts cover not only incoming but also outgoing emails, even malware emails sent from devices infected with the likes of Emotet to external parties will also be subject to alerts. This will prevent cases in which the company was not aware of a problem until a third party discovers it.

Specifically, the reports contain the detailed results of the investigation, including the date and time of the incident, the email addresses sent or received, the number of emails, the source IP address, the subject, and the name of attached files. Therefore, by simply reviewing the report, users can tell who exactly sent or received the dangerous email and incidents can be handled as quickly as possible. It can be implemented at a lower cost than general incident detection and response solutions, which is another feature of this system.

D-Alert Reporting Service details

Requires: m-FILTER@Cloud (regular or MailFilter & Anti-Spam version)
On sale (planned): February 13, 2023 (Monday)
Price: 200 yen per license/month (excl. consumption tax)
URL: https://www.daj.jp/bs/lp/d-alert-report/

■ m-FILTER@Cloud
m-FILTER@Cloud is a cloud-based email security product. It provides both measures against attack emails from outside and internal information leaks through email filters. A database that collects combinations of IP addresses and domains of email senders ensures that only safe emails are received.
https://www.daj.jp/bs/datcloud/mfatcloud/


*1 Digital Arts "Survey of security measures taken by companies and organizations nationwide"https://www.daj.jp/company/release/common/data/2022/090201_reference.pdf
*2 Number of i-FILTER Ver. 10, m-FILTER Ver. 5, i-FILTER@Cloud and m-FILTER@Cloud users as of the end of December 2022 (in-house survey)
*3 Number of i-FILTER Ver. 10, m-FILTER Ver. 5, i-FILTER@Cloud and m-FILTER@Cloud users as of the end of December 2022 and number of malware infection reports by these users (in-house survey)
*4 Security Research Lab: Collects, researches, and analyzes threats on websites and in emails.