The Best Email Security Services for 2024

Email is one of the most popular tools used for personal and business communication in the modern era

However, email is insecure by design. When you send an email, that email is plaintext and stored on someone’s computer. There’s no guarantee that your message is protected in transit or at rest. You are trusting the administrator of that computer not to read through your email. Email security refers to the measures taken to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic mail messages and their transmission. This includes protecting against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction of email communications.

Here is our list of the best email security services:

1. Guardz EDITOR’S CHOICE This cloud platform provides company-wide security services and that remit includes email security with constant mailbox scanning for threats such as phishing. Get a 14-day free trial.
2. Trustifi This cloud-based system integrates into email services via a plug-in and it encrypts emails as well as monitoring them for attacks.
3. Trustwave Email Security This proxy server filters out malware and phishing attempts and also provides a continuity service.
4. Ironscales Platform An AI-driven package that filters out malware and spam and also provides awareness training for staff with simulated phishing mails.
5. Proofpoint Email Protection This package provides protection from incoming attacks and data loss prevention scans for outgoing email. Offered as on-premises software or as a cloud package.
6. Trend Micro Cloud App Security This bundle implements security for cloud-based systems, including the email elements in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
7. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 A cloud-based system from Microsoft to protect the components of the cloud-based productivity suite, including email.
8. Fortinet FortiMail Blocks incoming attacks, such as spam, phishing, and malware and also scans outbound emails for data theft.
9. Avanan Email Security Anti-spam, anti-phishing, and anti-malware for inbound emails and data loss prevention scanning on outbound emails with coverage for Microsoft and Google cloud-based email systems.
10. Cisco Secure Email This cloud-based protection system integrates into the Cosco XDR to include email security scanning with system-wide protection.

Without the right security measures, email can easily serve as a gateway for cyber attacks. A single act of negligence can compromise the safety and security of the organization’s email system. Attackers can spoof domains to make it appear that their emails are from trusted contacts, they can distribute malware and spam via email channels, and they can use social engineering to trick users to make payments or log into websites that contain malicious content. This makes email security one of the most important measures organizations must have.

Email security is important for the following reasons:

• Confidentiality Email messages may contain sensitive information such as personal information, financial data, and confidential business information that must be protected from unauthorized access and disclosure.
• Integrity Email messages must be protected from unauthorized modification or alteration to ensure that the information they contain is accurate and reliable.
• Availability Email is a critical communication tool, and ensuring that email messages are available to authorized users is essential for business operations and personal communications.
• Compliance Many organizations are subject to regulations that require them to protect sensitive information, including email communications.
• Reputation A security breach can damage an organization’s reputation and lead to a loss of trust and customers.

Having strong email defenses and protection solutions in place allows organizations to prevent and mitigate the risk of email-related cyberattacks and wade off malware threats before they even reach users’ mailboxes. This article outlines the ten best email security services to help you minimize exposure to email security risk in your organization.

The best email security services

1. Guardz (FREE TRIAL)

Guardz is a cloud platform that provides a package of corporate security services. All of the security scanning modules in the platform are automated, so the operating technician team doesn’t need to remember to keep launching scans. The package includes an email security scanning service. That email scanner guards against phishing attempts, ransomware, spam, malware, and business email compromise. This service is available through a plug-in for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. When the Guardz system spots a malicious or suspicious email, it automatically removes it from the user’s mailbox and puts it in a secure area for analysis.

The Guardz package isn’t limited to protecting email. It also provides cloud data protection and endpoint protection. Malware and ransomware are important targets for the cloud and endpoint scanning units. The package also provides a phishing simulator and user awareness training units.

Guardz has an unusual marketing strategy. The package is intended for use by managed service providers (MSPs). However, the sales website for the service reaches out to consumer companies – the businesses that will be protected by the platform, rather than those that will operate it. Guardz maintains a list of MSPs with which it partners and recommends that inquiring companies contact one of those providers. Other options are for a company to go and find an MSP and tell them about the Guardz package or tell their existing MSP about the package.

The Guardz console is brandable, so MSPs can put their own logos on the dashboard screens. The package is delivered from the cloud, so an administrator just needs to set up technician accounts to get the MSP onboarded. The system is available for a 14-day free trial.

2. Trustifi

Trustifi is a company that provides email encryption, secure email tracking, recall, and expiration date functionalities, to ensure the security and privacy of email communications and compliance with data protection regulations. Trustifi’s services are provided as a cloud-based solution, which means that it can be accessed from any device with an internet connection. The company claims that its platform is easy to use and requires minimal setup and configuration. Trustifi also offers a mobile app that allows users to send and receive secure emails on the go.

Trustifi’s email security services include end-to-end encryption, secure email tracking, and the ability to recall sent emails. Their platform encrypts emails at the time of sending, ensuring that the contents of the email are only readable by the intended recipient. The secure email tracking feature allows users to see when and where emails are opened, giving them visibility into the status of their communications. The recall feature allows users to retract an email after it has been sent, preventing it from being read by unintended recipients. Additionally, Trustifi also offers the ability to set expiration dates for emails, which allows users to control the lifespan of sensitive information. The services provided by Trustifi aim to ensure the security and privacy of email communications and compliance with data protection regulations.

3. Trustwave Email Security

Trustwave Email Security is a service offered by Trustwave, a company that provides a range of cybersecurity solutions for businesses of all sizes. Trustwave Email Security aims to protect organizations from email-borne threats such as phishing, malware, and spam. The service comes with a web-based console that allows administrators to manage the service and monitor email security activity. The service can be integrated with other Trustwave security solutions, such as Trustwave’s Secure Email Gateway, to provide even more robust security.

The service includes a variety of features to help secure email communications, including:

• Advanced threat protection This feature uses a combination of signature-based and behavioral-based detection techniques to identify and block malware and other malicious attachments.
• Spam and phishing protection Trustwave Email Security uses machine learning algorithms and threat intelligence to identify and block spam and phishing emails.
• Email encryption The service includes end-to-end encryption to secure sensitive information in transit and at rest.
• Archiving and e-discovery Trustwave Email Security allows organizations to archive and preserve emails for compliance and legal purposes.
• Continuity and disaster recovery The service includes a built-in continuity and disaster recovery feature to help ensure that email communications are not disrupted in the event of an outage or other incident

A free demo and a free 30-day trial of Trustwave MailMarshal is available for download.

4. Ironscales Platform

IRONSCALES is a cloud-based AI-driven enterprise email security platform that helps organizations fight known and unknown attacks such as phishing. spoofing, malware, ransomware, social engineering, BEC, and zero-day attacks, among others. IRONSCALES platform leverages machine learning algorithms, deep scans at the mailbox level, and user behavioral analysis to combat email-borne threats.

IRONSCALES authenticates all emails and also inspects DMARC implementation, Sender Policy Framework (SPF), and Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) to uncover the senders’ true identity, and the content and context of the email, and then flag suspicious ones. One of the outstanding features of IRONSCALES is its ease of deployment.

Other features and capabilities include:

• AI-powered incident response reduces manual email analysis and response by up to 90% according to IRONSCALES.
• AI-powered machine learning to help humans do more with automated threat remediation.
• Leverage thousands of analyst inputs, and AI-powered machine learning to help you do more with automated threat remediation.
• Mailbox-level anomaly detection makes smarter and faster decisions regarding suspicious emails already in users’ mailboxes
• Gamified, personalized simulation and Interactive training help employees think and act like security analyst

IRONSCALES pricing is per mailbox / per month. A free online demo and a free 14-day trial are available on request.

5. Proofpoint Email Protection

Proofpoint Email Protection is an email gateway designed to detect, classify and block email-related threats. Proofpoint Email Protection secures and controls your inbound and outbound emails and automatically tags suspicious ones to help raise user awareness. It uses machine learning (NexusAI) and multilayered detection techniques to identify and block malicious emails, such as business email compromise (BEC).

Proofpoint Email Protection blocks BEC by analyzing multiple message attributes such as message header data, sender’s IP address (x-originating IP and reputation), message body for urgency and words/phrases, and then determines whether that message is a BEC threat or not. It also provides detailed visibility into the nature of the attack. These key details help your security team better understand and respond to attacks emanating from emails.

Key features and benefits include:

• Extend protection with integrated email authentication, email encryption, email DLP, and more
• Block BEC scams, phishing attacks, and advanced malware at entry
• Improve productivity with fast email tracing and email hygiene

Proofpoint Email Protection is available as an on-premise or cloud-based solution and is most suitable for medium to large-scale enterprises. A free trial is available on request.

6. Trend Micro Cloud App Security

Trend Micro Cloud App Security is an AI-powered email security solution that offers multi-layered protection to detect and prevent malicious email-borne attacks. Trend Micro’s email security solution can effectively prevent BEC attacks, and domain spoofing including Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC).

Cloud App Security also enforces compliance on other cloud file-sharing and collaboration services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Teams, among others. It integrates directly with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and other services using APIs, maintaining all user functionality without rerouting email traffic or setting up a web proxy

Cloud App Security also provides a free phishing simulation and awareness service known as Phish Insight, which you can use to send realistic-looking phishing emails to users, monitor the results, and offer training to those who need it most. A free 30-day trial is available on request.

7. Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a cloud-based email filtering service that protects against threats to email and collaboration tools, including on-premises, cloud-hosted, and hybrid Exchange Server deployment. It also provides capabilities that support the investigation, hunting, and remediation of threats. With this tool, you can define threat-protection policies to set the appropriate level of protection for your organization, and manually or automatically investigate and respond to threats. But this may come with a steep learning curve. One of the remarkable features of this product is its ease of integration with Microsoft products, especially Office 365.

Other features and capabilities include:

• Safe Attachments Protects your messaging system from unknown malware and zero-day attacks
• Safe Links Protects users from malicious URLs in a message or an Office document.
• Safe Documents Uses Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to scan documents and files that are opened in Protected View
• Anti-phishing policies Checks incoming messages for indicators that a message might be a phishing attempt.
• Attack simulation training An intelligent social risk management tool that automates the creation and management of phishing simulations.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is included in Microsoft 365 E5, Office 365 E5, Office 365 A5, and Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscriptions. If your subscription does not include Defender for Office 365, you can purchase Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 or Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 as an add-on subscription.

8. Fortinet FortiMail

Fortinet FortiMail is an email security gateway product that monitors email messages on behalf of an organization to identify messages that contain malicious content. FortiMail prevents, detects, and responds to email-borne threats including spam, phishing, zero-day threats, impersonation, and BEC attacks. FortiMail key capabilities include anti-malware, anti-phishing, and anti-spam as well as sandboxing, threat intelligence, and DLP.

Fortinet FortiMail solutions come in a variety of deployment models—on-premises, cloud, hybrid, or virtual appliances. A free product demo is available on request.

9. Avanan Email Security

Avanan is a SaaS-based email security gateway that protects email & messaging applications (Office 365, G Suite), collaboration applications (Outlook, Gmail, Slack), and File Sharing (OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox) from cyber attacks such as phishing, ransomware, data leakage and more. This replaces the need for multiple tools to secure the entire cloud email and collaboration suite.

One of the outstanding features of Avanan is its ease of installation. With just a few clicks, it can be deployed via API or from the app store with zero configuration.

Other features and benefits include:

• Ability to catch email-related threats missed by traditional defenses
• Avanan protection extends beyond email to other cloud applications such as OneDrive, G Suite, Teams, and Slack, among others.
• Pay for what you use—available for both monthly and annual subscriptions, and usage-based-billing

Avanan is suitable for SMBs and large enterprises. An online demo and a free 14-day trial are available on request.

10. Cisco Secure Email

Cisco Secure Email enables organizations to combat BEC, ransomware, advanced malware, phishing, spam, and data loss with a multilayered approach to security. It includes advanced threat protection capabilities to detect and block threats and secure data in transit with end-to-end encryption. It scans all inbound, outbound, and internal mail anomalies that might indicate incidents of email-borne attacks.

Key features and capabilities include:

• Prevent brand abuse and identity-based email attacks with Cisco Secure Email Domain Protection and Cisco Secure Email Phishing Defense services.
• Block unwanted email with multilayered scanning architecture, reputation filtering, and URL filtering
• Protect sensitive content in outgoing emails with Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and easy-to-use email encryption.
• Deploy phishing simulations and awareness training, as well as measure and report results.

Cisco Secure Email provides multiple deployment options including cloud, on-premise, hybrid, and virtual appliances. Cisco Secure Email comes in three email security software bundles: Cisco Secure Email Inbound Essentials, Cisco Secure Email Outbound Essentials, and Cisco Secure Email Premium; add-on standalone options are also available. A free trial is available on request to enable you to test the solution before you buy.