Shield your business with a single click🛡️ mailguard365.com | Strengthen your Microsoft 365 security | Trusted by organizations worldwide | Endorsed by Satya Nadella | Non-techie, passion for food & travel

I have spent more than two decades helping organizations protect what matters most, their people, their data, and their ability to operate without disruption.

One lesson stands out.

It only takes a single email to undo years of work.

Attackers do not care about company size, workload, or software choices.
They exploit speed, human behavior, and moments of routine trust.

That reality shaped how we built MailGuard 365.

MailGuard 365 is the only email security platform co-built with Microsoft to operate natively inside Microsoft 365.

Microsoft provides the core platform.
MailGuard is a precision layer, engineered to address what still gets through.

It is fully integrated into the Microsoft environment, operating without disrupting user workflows or adding additional operational overhead.

The objective is simple.
Reduce exposure before user engagement, without adding complexity.

The platform is trusted by more than 5,500 organizations globally, including brands like Porsche and Fujifilm, and processes millions of emails each day.

As Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, observed:
“It’s the type of innovation that we want to see.”

I am the author of three non-technical cybersecurity books written for CEOs and business leaders focused on accountability, speed, and resilience.

Outside of work, I am a husband to an amazing wife and a father of four. The same values guide my work, building systems that operate quietly, consistently, and without drama.

Your breach will be judged in hindsight. Every major incident follows the same pattern. Before the breach, the risk feels theoretical. After it, every warning looks obvious.

Boards don’t ask what tools you had, they ask what you knew, when you knew it, and why action wasn’t taken sooner. That’s why modern cyber leadership isn’t about technology ownership, it’s about risk awareness. Can you show that you understood the exposure, and that you prioritised the right controls? That decisions were made with clear information, not assumptions?

Regulators are now looking for this globally. In Australia it’s OAIC and ASIC, it’s the SEC in the U.S., in Europe, GDPR regulators, and across Asia, financial and privacy authorities. The common thread is accountability. Not for being breached, but for being unprepared. Good governance means being able to say, “We saw the risk coming, and we acted.”

If you want a short board-ready brief on how leaders are re-framing cyber accountability, comment or DM me.

Craig McDonald

Protect your business from cyber threats in a single click 👉 mailguard365.com - Co-Built with Microsoft.

When preventing phishing/business email compromise, SPEED MATTERS!

I understand that your success and peace of mind are paramount. And Microsoft 365 (including Defender) CAN’T stop all threats. Cybercriminals can break a company with just one email, causing significant brand damage and financial impact.

By leveraging MailGuard 365, we bring you unparalleled advantages:

- Single-click, frictionless activation using your Microsoft credentials for immediate protection
- No changes to your DNS, MX, or your Microsoft control center
- No end-user training or IT support is required for management
- Stops sophisticated criminal intent email threats like phishing, ransomware, and BEC
- Moves threats to the junk or deleted items folder, just like Microsoft 365
- Evidence-based reporting demonstrates the results
- Stops threat emails others miss

With MailGuard 365, you can stop feeling anxious about email threats and start feeling secure and confident in your business's protection.

🌟 Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella: "MailGuard's innovative threat protection around social engineering is the type of innovation we want to see."

🌟 The Pearcey Foundation: "Craig epitomizes our values, taking risks to change the world for the better."

🌟 Rob Sloan, Cybersecurity Research Director at Wall Street Journal: "Surviving the Rise of Cybercrime provides strong foundations for leaders determined to address cyber risk."

Let's have a conversation about protecting what matters most to you!

📅 Schedule a Meeting: craig@mailguard365.com

A little more about me: I'm a non-techie passionate about food, wine & travel. Being a non-techie, as odd as that is, has helped me shape and execute a vision with a significant global social impact.

The importance of positively impacting the world extends beyond the business realm. In fact, I'm focused on instilling this value in my three boys and baby girl. My boys are 2, 8, and 10 years old, and my daughter is 4 months old. I educate them on the role that each of us plays in making the world a better place.

With my book, "Surviving the Rise of Cybercrime," a non-technical executive guide, I aim to enable business leaders to be more proactive in tackling cybercriminals' threats.

The Pearcey State Entrepreneur Awards are aimed at encouraging and rewarding fresh and innovative talent in the ICT profession. It is awarded to an individual during their career who have "taken a risk, made a difference and is an inspiration" within the ICT industry within each Australian State.

The Pearcey Foundation embraces all aspects of the ICT industry from traditional Information Science to the latest technological advances in social networking, multi-media, games and internet technologies - the very broadest spectrum of the Australian innovative sector.

The 2019 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

Cloud Academy: Cloud Essentials Certification

MailGuard 365

MailGuard 365 Co-built by Microsoft
Protect your business with one click
Make your Microsoft 365 more secure 
Exclusively from Microsoft
Stops more email threats; phishing, ransomware & BEC
Endorsed by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella as a top innovation.

Co-built with Microsoft, MailGuard 365 provides “Defence in Depth” email security as a native add-on to your M365.

Taking an enhanced approach to email security, MailGuard 365 works on the inside of Microsoft 365 in stealth to stop further malicious criminal intent email threats like phishing, ransomware, and BEC (Business Email Compromise). 

Cybercriminals design emails to look and feel like real brands and real people. Sensitive personal details are often obtained through social engineering, preying on people who fall victim and ultimately causing them significant harm.  Each additional email threat stopped by MailGuard 365 keeps our Microsoft 365 customers safe. 

Satya Nadella CEO Microsoft said, “fantastic work ….., that’s the type of innovation we want to see, …. real defense in depth.” 

This enhanced frictionless approach of adding MailGuard 365 provides our business customers a further security check before cybercriminals can cause a catastrophic impact. As MailGuard 365 works in stealth and within the native Microsoft 365 environment, it moves threats to the junk or deleted items folders just like Microsoft does, plus it honors any whitelists or blacklists in Microsoft 365. So, there’s no need for additional end-user training and nothing new for admins to do - freeing up valuable time and resources. 

MailGuard 365 is available via the Microsoft commercial marketplaces and has been selected as a Microsoft Preferred Solution. Start your Free 30-day POC today!

Visit Microsoft Marketplace

Azure Marketplace
https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/mailguardptylimited.mailguard365

AppSource Marketplace
https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-au/product/web-apps/mailguardptylimited.mailguard365

Chief Executive Officer

MailGuard Pty Ltd

Est in 2001 – for enterprise, government and SMEs who are dissatisfied with their current email security provider and who are seeking a better customer experience. 

Our cloud-based software as a service product, MailGuard, helps clients protect their IT networks from malicious cyber threats by detecting and blocking viruses and spam before they enter the client network. We offer clients a low-cost subscription model and the ability to be up and running and protected within minutes which has helped us retain 98% of our clients. 

MailGuard Facts:
☁ World’s largest privately-owned cloud email and web security provider
☁ Global
☁ Trusted by thousands of clients including many big brands, iconic organisations and industries
☁ 1000+ strong IT channel partners
☁ Net Promoter Score (NPS) 83+
☁ 100% uptime guarantee
☁ 100% customer focused
☁ Experts in cloud

Surviving the Rise of Cybercrime

Surviving the Rise of Cybercrime 
Book launch at Parliament House ACT Australia

Highlight video of Launch:  https://youtu.be/q9Ya7rLm1fk
Download ebook: www.survivingcybercrime.com

---
"Effective cybersecurity has become a key foundation for the digital transformation initiatives of government and businesses. This guide provides a clear assessment of the threat, while providing a set of very practical steps that executive leaders can take to build a modern, resilient platform for their business innovation."

James Kavanagh
National Technology Officer
Microsoft Australia

---
“Cybercrime is a serious and growing business risk. Building an effective cybersecurity culture within an organisation requires directors and executives to lead by example. 'Surviving the Rise in Cybercrime' is a must-read for directors and executives across business and in government and provides strong foundations for leaders determined to address cyber risk."

Rob Sloan
Cybersecurity Research Director
Wall Street Journal

---
In under an hour, Surviving The Rise of Cybercrime non-technical book helps leaders understand and mitigate cyber threats ranging from phishing to ransomware. It is easy to read, it is understandable, It’s the sort of publication that we do need to get being read in every single boardroom and SMB

The Hon Dan Tehan MP
Minister Assisting Prime Minister on Cyber Security

Author: Surviving the Rise of Cybercrime (A non-technical guide)

BlackEvents

Tastechampagne World’s largest champagne events. 

Our series of BlackEvents are set to be held around the world and specially created to be both exclusive and intimate. These events are strictly by invitation only in conjunction with the world's most prestigious champagne houses, vineyards and restaurants.

BlackEvents Facts:
★ World’s largest champagne tastings combining growers, houses and cooperatives
★ Launching top international Champagne houses such as Taittinger, Pol Roger and Billecart Salmon
★ Wine tastings for big brands such as Penfolds and Henschke
★ Exclusive invitation only high-end events  
★ Private art gallery function room hire 
★ Well-connected to top restaurants, media, and well known food and wine brands

To register for invitations, visit www.black.com.au or view our latest events visit www.blackevents.com.au 

Tastechampagne public events visit www.Tastechampagne.com.au

Founder CEO

We stop email threats others miss 🛡️ mailguard365.com | Enhance your Microsoft 365 security | Trusted by startups and industry leaders like Porsche | Endorsed by Satya Nadella | Non-techie CEO

The 2019 Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award was presented to Craig McDonald, CEO and Founder of Mailguard, at the annual Pearcey national Awards gala dinner on 14th November 2019 in Melbourne.

The national award recognises a recipient from among the State Pearcey winners for inspiring leadership, scale, impact, innovation and acclaim on the world stage. 

2019 Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award - Winner

This is award is presented to an outstanding individual(s) who has "taken a risk and made a difference" in the Victorian ICT industry.

The 2019 Victorian Pearcey Award was presented to Craig McDonald on the evening of Tuesday 27th August, 2019 at the Woodward Centre, Melbourne Law School.

2019 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award - Winner

In November 2016, Australian Prime Minister, The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull MP, commended MailGuard as a "world-leading" innovator.
Mr Turnbull said: "For 15 years MailGuard has developed world-leading cloud email security IP. It’s exporting to 27 countries. This is IP that is unique to Australia; it’s the leading cloud email and web security solutions anywhere in the world."

MailGuard endorsed by The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull MP

Proudly nominated for EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 - Southern Region.
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ program is considered the world's most prestigious business award and is held in more than 145 cities and over 60 countries worldwide.
http://www.ey.com/AU/en/About-us/Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneur-Of-The-Year/EY-eoy-meet-the-entrepreneurs-southern-region
See the entry video here: https://youtu.be/Hfl3xifNC4I

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2015 - Southern Region Nominee

CEOs: Most Viewed CEOs on LinkedIn in Australia for 2015
https://lists.linkedin.com/power-profiles/au/industry/ceos

Most Viewed CEOs - LinkedIn PowerProfiles 2015

Download your free executive guide, Surviving the Rise of Cybercrime, by MailGuard CEO Craig McDonald.

Surviving the Rise of Cybercrime: A non-technical executive guide

Protecting Microsoft 365 from AI Email Threats Before User Impact | Endorsed by Microsoft - Satya Nadella | Trusted by Global Brands | 5,500+ clients like Porsche | AI Email Security

Leaders remove noise before setting strategy.

A real divide is emerging in cybersecurity. Not between organizations with more tools and fewer tools, but between those built to detect risk and those built to act before damage occurs.
 
Detection is important. Speed is decisive.
 
As email threats compress timelines from hours to minutes, organizations that rely on human intervention alone will feel slower (and more vulnerable) every year.
 
If you want to discuss, confidentially, where your organization sits on this divide, feel free to reach out. Comment or DM me.

AI didn’t just make email risk worse, it made leadership delays more expensive. Attackers didn’t suddenly become smarter, they just became faster. AI lets them spin up convincing scams in seconds, clone writing styles, personalise lures, and launch campaigns at machine speed. But most organisations are still making security decisions at human speed.

Quarterly reviews, with lengthy approvals and slow procurement cycles.
That gap is now where breaches happen. This isn’t a technology problem, it’s a leadership problem. When threats move in minutes, and decisions take months, the outcome is predictable.

Modern cyber leadership means changing how risk decisions get made. Faster escalation, with clear ownership and controls that act automatically, not after someone clicks.

Email remains the front door for AI-driven attacks, and the question for leaders isn’t “Do we have tools?” It’s “Can our defences move faster than criminals do?” Because in an AI world, speed isn’t just an advantage. It’s a necessity for survival.

If you want a short executive brief on how AI is reshaping email risk and leadership accountability, comment or DM me.

Your people should never be your last line of defence. If your security strategy depends on someone spotting a fake email, you don’t have protection, you have hope.

Hope they notice the subtle typo. Hope that they question a “CEO” request. Or, hope they don’t click while distracted, tired, or rushing. That’s not resilience, it’s risk transfer.

We’ve normalised the idea that breaches happen because users “made a mistake”, but that’s the wrong lens. Attackers design emails to look routine, imitating familiar brands, normal workflows, and delivering urgent but believable requests. They don’t just trick people. They blend in.

Modern email attacks succeed because they feel normal, not suspicious. Real protection means stopping threats before users ever see them. No banners or judgement calls. No “security awareness” quiz after the damage is done. 

Leadership isn’t about training people to catch criminals. It’s about building systems that remove the burden from them. Your staff should focus on their jobs, and your security should do its’ job.

If you want a short executive brief on why “user awareness” can’t be your primary defence anymore, comment or DM me.

Warn your teams, a Telstra-branded “billing adjustment” phishing email is offering a refund, then quietly walking victims through multiple steps to steal their login details, personal information, and credit card data.

The most dangerous emails aren’t threats, they’re opportunities. On this occasion, a refund. A billing adjustment, and money you weren’t expecting, but wouldn’t mind receiving. No malware. No broken English. Just something that feels routine enough to trust.

As Brad Smith from Microsoft has said, “Cybersecurity is a team sport.” Because attackers don’t need to break in anymore, they just need someone to open the door.

We’re seeing these refund lures used because they bypass scepticism. People think, “This might actually be real.” That moment of hesitation is all criminals need.

MailGuard 365 is stopping these attacks inside Microsoft 365 before users ever see them. Our AI-powered threat detection models don’t wait for campaigns to spread. They detect malicious intent in real time, often hours or months ahead of Microsoft and traditional tools.

This isn’t about making staff more suspicious, it’s about removing the risk before they have to decide.

Get the full breakdown here: https://lnkd.in/g9g3jxSh  

For more on how it works and what to look for, comment or DM me for more insights.

Security doesn’t fail in crises. It fails in routines. Most executive teams prepare for big moments, incidents, audits, and board meetings. But modern breaches don’t announce themselves like that. They arrive during normal day-to-day operations.
 
A finance approval. A supplier update. A refund notice. A “quick check” email between meetings. That’s why cyber resilience isn’t built in incident response plans alone. It’s built into daily habits.
 
What leaders prioritize in weekly cadences. What gets reviewed in monthly metrics. What’s embedded into workflows rather than bolted on as training. If security only shows up as an annual exercise, it won’t show up when it matters.
 
Strong executive teams design environments where:
- Risk is reduced before people are exposed
- Controls act automatically during routine work
- Staff don’t need to stop and “think security” to stay safe
 
Preparedness isn’t about vigilance, it’s about design. The organizations that weather incidents best are the ones that quietly protect people during business-as-usual, not the ones scrambling after the fact. Leadership today means making security part of the rhythm of the business, not a reaction to the next headline.

For a confidential discussion about the preparedness of your team and business, comment or DM me. No sales pitch. Just practical real-world advice.

Tell your teams to be alert for the latest ‘renewal scam’ impersonating ‘CrazyDomains’. Most domain or hosting renewal scams don’t succeed because people are careless, they succeed because the message feels operational and familiar. An email warning of service interruption hits when teams are busy, distracted, and trying to keep systems running. That’s how this one works. 

We’re seeing a spike in renewal phishing that mimics legitimate providers like CrazyDomains, and walks victims through realistic payment flows, capturing card details, SMS codes, and even PINs. 

As Satya Nadella has said, “Cybersecurity is a race without a finish line.” Attackers don’t need to be clever, they just need to be fast and believable. MailGuard 365 is stopping these threats inside Microsoft 365 before users ever see them, using real-time detection that looks at intent, not just content.

For a breakdown of how this scam works and what to watch for, read more here: https://lnkd.in/gna6isy4

For more, comment or DM me. No sales pitch. Just insights.

Email might still look much the same as it did ten years ago. Same interface. Same workflows. Same habits. But the risk inside the inbox has accelerated quietly, and dramatically.

What used to be simple communication is now the trigger point for identity access, payment approvals, cloud permissions, and authority. One message can initiate actions that once required multiple systems and checks.

Yet most organizations are still thinking about email risk using assumptions from 2016, but the attackers aren’t.

If you want a confidential conversation about how prepared your team and business really are for this shift, reach out with a DM or comment.

Alert your teams to this latest EnergyAustralia refund scam, because most phishing doesn’t look dangerous anymore, it looks helpful. A refund, an overpayment, or a quick action to “get your money back”. They work, not because people are careless, but because the message fits neatly into normal business life. Energy bills are real. Refunds happen. And when the email arrives at the wrong moment, trust fills the gap where verification should be. This isn’t accidental. It’s deliberate.

As Brad Smith, Vice Chair & President, Microsoft, has said, “The greatest vulnerability in cybersecurity is still human trust.” The Verizon DBIR backs this up, showing nearly 70% of breaches still involve the human element.

The problem isn’t awareness. It’s exposure. When phishing emails land in inboxes, you’re asking people to make perfect decisions under pressure. That’s not resilience. That’s risk transfer.

This is why we built MailGuard 365 to stop threats inside Microsoft 365, before users ever see them. No judgement calls. No warning banners. Just prevention, quietly doing its job.

We’ve published a short breakdown of this EnergyAustralia scam and why it’s effective, including what leaders should be paying attention to. You can read it here: https://lnkd.in/gf2B-8Mu

Comment or DM me for further insights.

Cyber risk doesn’t fail at the point of attack, it fails at the point of attention. Most organisations don’t ignore risk, they mis-rank it. Signals are present, warnings exist, controls are discussed, but urgency is diluted by competing priorities and optimistic assumptions.

After an incident, the question is never “did you have security tools?” It’s “why didn’t this rise higher, sooner?” That’s the shift boards are now facing globally. Cyber leadership is being measured by what leaders chose to focus on when nothing was visibly broken.

The organisations that hold up under scrutiny are the ones that treated weak signals as decision points, not background noise. If you have concerns about the cyber readiness of your team, comment or DM me for a confidential conversation. Real-world insights and clarity.

Email is no longer just communication; it’s an authority channel. Identity verification, invoice approvals, vendor changes, password resets, executive instructions, many of these still begin with an email.
 
These systems were designed separately, but they now converge in the inbox. That convergence creates leverage, and leverage is what attackers exploit. This is why a single email can trigger financial loss, data exposure, and regulatory scrutiny at the same time.
 
For a confidential conversation about how exposed your organization may be at this intersection, comment or DM me.

Just as revenue scales with growth, cyber losses scale with access.
 
As businesses digitise, one inbox can unlock systems, partners, workflows, and authority. The damage is rarely proportional to the trigger. That’s why incidents increasingly feel outsized.
 
It isn’t the email that causes the scale of the loss, it’s everything connected to it. The downside is accelerating faster than most balance sheets expect.
 
How is this risk showing up in your business? DM or comment, or reach out to connect confidentially.

Judgment declines long before performance does.

Leadership begins when systems stop demanding attention.

Most breaches don’t happen because someone ignored training. They happen because the system put a decision in front of a human at the worst possible moment. Busy. Distracted. Just trying to do their job.
 
Modern phishing doesn’t rely on mistakes. It relies on normality. Messages that look like invoices, refunds, approvals, supplier updates. Things people are expected to act on.
 
When a threat reaches an inbox, the organisation has already shifted risk onto the individual. That’s not resilience. That’s delegation.
 
Real cyber maturity means designing controls that assume humans will be human, not perfect. Systems should absorb risk so people don’t have to. Leadership isn’t about telling staff to be more careful. It’s about making sure they don’t need to be.
 
For a confidential conversation about the preparedness of your team and business, comment or DM me. No sales pitch. Just insights and clarity.

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