Overview:
Secure email gateway software is a powerful tool used to secure email systems from spam, viruses, ransomware, and other malicious threats. The software assists businesses and organizations by detecting and blocking malicious emails before they land in employees’ inboxes. It’s developed to understand the content of emails and examine attachments to stop malware and viruses from penetrating the network. Secure email gateway software helps to protect business communication channels, securing sensitive information, and shielding systems from cybercriminals.
Who uses Secure Email Gateway software?
Any organization, business, or individual who values information security can use the software. It’s deployed by businesses of all sizes, from small enterprises to multinational corporations.
Secure Email Gateway is well-regarded software by organizations such as hospitals, financial institutions, and government agencies due to the sensitivity of their data.
Benefits of Secure Email Gateway Software:
Having secure email gateway software has several benefits.
One, it keeps emails safe from cyber threats, protecting sensitive information, and the network from harm.
Secondly, the software lowers the likelihood of data breaches caused by email threats.
Finally, it streamlines business operations by protecting the email environment without employees’ need to interfere with email management.
Features of Secure Email Gateway Software
1. Spooling:
Secure Email Gateway has the unique ability to store and hold messages temporarily if the intended recipient’s server experiences communication issues. This feature offers a seamless experience to end-users, reducing the possiblity that email(s) end up in a black hole without being delivered.
2. Quarantine Management:
The software also provides admins with the option to manage messages in quarantine to avoid false positives or negatives. Quarantine management can help create visibility into exactly what is happening on an organization’s email server. It’s also helpful in securely getting email to its intended recipient, especially in situations where the email server is unavailable and a message cannot be spooled.
3. Advanced Email Security Scanning:
Secure Email Gateway Software has advanced scanning techniques that dissect emails, detect if they are malicious, and block them before causing damage. It examines emails based on attachment types, file signature analysis, and content filtering. This unique approach ensures that the wrong and harmful content does not find its way through an organization’s email defenses.
4. Multi-layered Spam Protection:
An excellent secure email gateway software has multi-layered and cloud-based spam protection mechanisms. It demonstrates a high level of accuracy in detecting and eliminating unwanted emails and junk email traffic.
5. Data Loss Prevention (DLP):
Secure Email Gateway helps prevent data leakage. The software uses complex analysis technology to scan outgoing emails for content that is sensitive to an organization or industry regulations. It automatically blocks emails with prohibited content and prompts users to review part or entire email content before sending.
Five examples of relevant software products
1. Proofpoint Secure Email Gateway (proofpoint.com)
Just like the features outlined above, Proofpoint has advanced email scanning, multi-layered spam protection, and data loss prevention technology to protect businesses from email-based threats. This solution combines the best of on-premises and cloud-based protection.
2. Symantec Messaging Gateway (symantec.com)
Symantec Messaging Gateway provides anti-spam and anti-virus protection for email messages and attachments. The software is user-friendly, fast, and can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud.
3. Barracuda Email Security Gateway (barracuda.com)
Barracuda Email Security Gateway provides industry-best spam and virus protection and integrates with the organization’s infrastructure. The software is easy to deploy, setup and is user-friendly.
4. Mimecast Secure Email Gateway (mimecast.com)
This product offers advanced security against targeted spear-phishing and whaling attacks that evade traditional email security controls. Mimecast also integrates with Microsoft Office 365, enabling businesses to secure email in the cloud and on-premises.
5. Cisco Email Security (cisco.com)
Cisco Email Security is a cloud-based solution that provides simple, effective, and trusted email security. A unique approach provides strong email security without the need for complex hardware or software deployment.
How to use Secure Email Gateway Software
Using secure email gateway software is easy and straightforward. Most vendors require a Fresh Start basic installation or an Overcloud installation. An overcloud installation incorporates the solution into your email architecture and ranks your existing email infrastructure on a scale from 1-10, enabling you to focus on areas that need the most attention.
Once your chosen software is installed, it will monitor your email traffic, scan your emails for sensitive information, analyze attachments, and block any messages that are deemed unsafe. In cases where an email is flagged by the software, a notification would be sent to administrators or end-users for review.
Drawbacks and Limitations of Secure Email Gateway Software
While Secure Email Gateway Software provides several benefits, it can’t guarantee 100% protection against all email-borne threats. It can be too restrictive in separating the good from the bad, leading to false negatives when it should not block certain emails. It is also possible that the legitimate emails could be quarantined unintentionally, which could delay receiving critical information.
Conclusion
Secure email gateway software continues to be a crucial tool in business cybersecurity arsenals. It offers benefits such as protecting the email environment from cyber threats, data loss prevention, and ease of use. It also offers additional layers of protection to supplement organizations’ current email security measures. Before choosing a solution, it is essential to evaluate each product’s capabilities, drawbacks, and limitations to determine which one works best for your organization.