Resolving Multiple Cyber Threats with the Email Security Gateway

As a vast majority of corporate communicatons and messages are shared via emails, assuring the security and minimizing the risk of data breach is the primary reason behind the adoption of email security gateways (ESG’s).  The traditional processes, unprotected by protocols such as SSL/TLS that involve transmiting messages in plain text through local networks or the internet, further emphasizes the need for companies to differentiate and eliminate known and unknown threats.

ESGs work aggressively  by delivering continuous email protections and  preventing malicious emails to reach their destinations through email encryption, data loss prevention, content protection, accurate authentication, and much more.  Further, with the rampant adoption of BYOD strategies, firms are aware of the odds of encountering malware attacks, phising, spam messages and malicious content that are not under their  control but occur within the coporate networks.  ESGs by  deploying  strong authentication for  internal and external emails, help avert scenarios like data loss, theft or incidents that breach its existing corporate policies. A list of factors are to be thoroughly considered while choosing the right ESG.

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Delivery of In-depth Protection from Cyber Threats

Nearly every ESG leverages dynamic threat intelligent feeds and  provides state-of-the art protections from email-based threats by updating every few minutes. However, there are several organizations,  strongly relying on their client-based security services that include antivirus software, and antispam solution to safeguard  from critical issues. Firm need to consider the one offering that averts risk from almost every network. Unfortunately, the run of the mill client-based solutions seldom  work the way email security gateways does. So it is a call that a firm has to make for in-depth protection from possible threats.

Buyers Need to be Aware of Basic Functionalities before Investing on ESGs

Email security gateways are available in the market as public cloud-based, hybrid, hardware appliances on premises, virtual appliance on premises and email server-based. These ESG forms perform almost similarly and contain same functionalities. In addition, few ESG products offer two or more of these forms and provide typical identity monitoring capabilities.

While buying any ESG it is always important to perform a exhaustive check on the basic security functions that the solution can offer. The best-in-the-class ESGs always consider three specified functionalities; threat intelligence services, data loss prevention, and Email encryption.

• At the first step, threat intelligence services collate raw data from several sources that  can lead to cyber threats in future. In the next step the solution analyses and filters those collected data and produces usable information as management reports along with data feeds for automated security control systems. The rare access to such feeds makes client-based security solution, a more feeble performer than ESG. Buyers always want a genuine ESG deployment in their enterprise network and that solution  should contain some specific capacities such as efficient, continuous monitoring capability on organization’s internal and external email traffic.

• Data loss prevention (DLP) is anothers essential aspects of ESGs that scans enterprise’s outbound emails to secure their sensitive data. It is a procedure that confirms end users are strictly prohibited to send any sensitive data or critical information outside the organization network. DLP software products eliminate the probability of accidents  like and  employees inadvertently sending confidential information, resulting in huge risks for  enterprise. In case an employee tries  to share data or upload data to other customer’s domain, the DLP will not allow them to do so.

• Deployment of email encryption software in organizations secures their confidential contents and text of  emails  by  encrypting every sensitive email messages and attachment before sending them. As a result, these contents of email messages are strongly protected by outsiders and only the specific recipient is able to read these emails by decrypting the messages.

The Prominent  ESG  Solutions

Cisco

Cisco Email Security Appliance also contains more or less same offering as the other ESGs does such as protection from spam, malware, and other email-based threats but  its graymail management and web interaction tracking functionalities makes it a divergent ESGs product. The  effective features and capability of the appliance delivers enterprises several up-to-date functionalities such as threat-centric security, easy installation and management, continuous innovation and real-time threat intelligence. Threat-centric security of the Cisco Email Security Appliance controls and encrypts organization’s sensitive outbound email. Additionally, the solution is capable to quickly block incoming attacks. The appliance has been designed to secure enterprises from phishing and spam attacks. Easy installation and management of the appliance offer customers 24 hour supports.

On the other hand, the appliance is powered by Cisco Talos Security Intelligence and Research Group. Talos threat intelligence delivers accurate authentications and protects against known and unknown threats for  enterprises. Overall, the Cisco Email Security Appliance offers strong security deployment for all size of businesses with Cisco ESA C690, 690X and C680. It delivers high performance and comprehensive security services especially to the service providers and large-scale enterprise email systems. Based on the security needs of midsized firms, it has developed Cisco ESA C390 and C380 and the module has built on the latest generation of appliance hardware. Whereas, the small sized firms are always in a big hunt of such ESGs that offer strong protection of outbound and inbound emails with a cost effective approach. The Cisco ESA C190, C170 will be the ultimate cost effective choice for those firms who has less than 2,000 of employees.   

McAfee

The comprehensive platforms of McAfee Security is known for  strongly protecting organizations’ emails by identifing  threats along with spam blocking capability, which leads it to be a lucrative choice for buyers. According to a recent  report, buyers can secure their internal and external emails by experiencing the McAfee Security for Email Servers. This also carries powerful email filtration functionality that eliminates infected contents and saves leaked sensitive data. It endows organizations with  real-time protection from threats by deploying several steps such as email server’s protections throughout 24/7 supports, data leak prevention and content scanning, filter spam, and by boosting productivity.

Symantec Email Security

Enterprises can safeguard their email and productivity infrastructure by using Symantec Email Security.Cloud. Its specialized offering of ESGs also holds the same protective functionalities that of Cisco and McAfee.  In addition, Symantec Messaging Gateway entails more functionalities that involves curing email infringments with  Disarm, a proprietary technology of Symantec that enables its messaging gateways to work efficiently whenever an  attack occurs.  The technology strongly identifies contents of each emails and reattachs those filtered contents, later completing the detection with specific email and sending to user’s destinations.  This technology can be utilized to  upgrade the productivities of organizations by removing disputed contents from Microsoft Office and PDF attachments. The Global Intelligence Network of Symantecs detects three billion messages per day. It has the capacity to block nearly 99 percent  of spam and also delivers organizations with personalized antispam rules as an additional protection. Data loss prevention technologies of Symantec adeptly secures sensitive company information.

Websense

Based on the fact that  email are  the backbone of organizations’ productivity Websense developed TRITON AP-EMAIL security gateway that provides endless protection against multi-stage advanced threats. While securing organizations’ email, the gateway uses real-time behavioral sandboxing, enterprise-grade DLP, and many more modern technologies. These modern technologies help enterprises in detecting attacks, high-risk users, and also insider threats. Its effective features include cloud storage, on premise or hybrid deployment, real-time identifications and classifications of threats through TRITON ACE, ThreatSeeker Intelligence Cloud, and up-to date email encryption.

Conclusion

The current market suggest an that the cyber threats are unpredictable in terms of spam, phising attacks, and malware. This has a direct impact on solution providers in terms of balancing the increasing  demand  of customers as companies have less room for service latency and other mistakes. In this critical phase ESGs acquisition will be lucrative for balancing and securing organization services. On that basis, organization services buyers need to step ahead for  buying the best, suited ESG  products. 

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