Choosing Best Email Security Provider or Solution

An effective email security provider or solution needs to be more than just a “spam eliminator”. The internet threat landscape has evolved. It’s more sophisticated. Breaches can infiltrate your email system and cripple your business in ways no one has seen before.

These complex threats- such as ransomware and spear-phishing- can create significant financial losses, paralyze employee productivity and damage a business’s reputation- creating trust issues with clients.

According to Cisco, 78% of users claim to be aware of the risks associated with unknown links in emails, yet they unwittingly click on these links regardless.

A comprehensive, multi-layered email security solution- combined with vigilant support- has become a necessity to mitigate these new and sophisticated attacks.

The purpose of this guide is to help you make informed, confident decisions about securing your business email. Here are seven key questions to ask potential email security providers:

Is the solution fast and always evolving to keep abreast of more sophisticated threats?

The open-source approach to email security is the fastest method of thwarting possible breaches. Open-source’s immediate development allows companies to utilize resources reaching far beyond their borders, providing customers with highly effective, real-time protection. It enables a provider to engineer highly flexible, exceptionally secure solutions and offer them at competitive prices.

Advantages of choosing an open-source software and solutions include:

Increased security: The visibility of open-source code provides expert developers and engineers with immediate access to open-source projects. As a result, security experts worldwide are able to improve the code. Vulnerabilities are detected and fixed very rapidly, resulting in highly secure, “one-step-ahead” solutions.
Superior quality: Collaboration fosters rapid innovation- with ideas coming from multiple sources.
No vendor “lock-in”: Because open-source products and programs are standards based and freely accessible, individuals and enterprises can avoid the risk of vendor lock-in.
Cost-effectiveness: Open-source software and technology is much more cost-effective than proprietary alternatives. Because opacity does not exist in Open Source, code is shared and utilized by developers and engineers around the world. This keeps costs down. Proprietary software also requires licensing fees, which automatically drives up the prices of proprietary products.
Community values hold open-source solutions to the highest standards: Open-source developers aim to create products that are as effective and useful to the community, while proprietary products are often developed with the main goal of benefitting only the vendor. The community surrounding open-source development also has much more to offer in regards to innovation, speed and problem solving than small, private groups working on proprietary solutions do.

Is the solution fully managed, with seamless implementation?

Effective solutions are quickly and seamlessly integrated into businesses’ existing email infrastructure. They are fully managed remotely by a staff of trained security professionals. Look for a solution that is monitored by support engineers around the clock, allowing you to focus on aspects of business besides email security. Read about 8 top email security best practices for Business.

Does the solution take a defense-in-depth approach to security?

A reliable solution is designed to be secure from the ground up. It uses complementary layered technologies to protect your business email with the highest level of security available. Working in unison, these layers of security are more effective at preventing successful email attacks than any single method of protection.

Is the solution highly scalable and customizable?

Look for a solution that is suitable for your business’s current size, but has the experience to be able to adapt and accommodate growth and expansion. A gateway that can be easily customized and scaled to effectively meet the needs of any size business. The provider should understand your unique business needs, network configuration, email behavior profile and be able to assist with your long-term goals, expansion, upgrades and migrations.

The scalability and security that we now have with our Guardian Digital solution will make future network integration of other ISRO centers simple; and I have no doubt that many will embrace this successful solution.

- Dr. N. Ramani, Visiting Scientist, Indian Space Research Organization

What is the company’s security philosophy?

A reputable provider offers all of its customers the highest level of email protection available, not just those willing to pay a premium for added levels of security.

Find an email protection solutions provider whose protection includes:

Diligent, immediate, open source-coded inbound & outbound business email security protection against all persistent threats
Advanced encryption protection throughout- designed to keep communications secure
Zero-hour outbreak control which protects against new, unknown spam and malware outbreaks- using multi-layered detection and analysis engines
Advanced security protocols including DKIM, SPF and DMARC, which add verifiable information about the sender of a message to emails to help prevent email spoofing
Behavior profiling
Real-time URL filtering

Does the solution provide Microsoft Outlook and Gmail users with resilient secondary protection?

Microsoft Outlook and Gmail experience frequent and significant outages and problems which can have major implications for its users. Microsoft itself has acknowledged that it is unable to combat all email threats. After all, Microsoft and Google are in the email business, not the email protection business. These days, secondary protection is necessary.

Resiliency is an important factor to consider when evaluating an email security provider or solution.

Look for an cloud email security that runs on a platform specifically developed to optimize the system’s security and reliability over time. This will ensure that the solution will reliably route mail virtually indefinitely.

Most importantly: does the provider top class customer support?

The most important facet of a great email security provider is its quality customer support. Support is the engine that drives a successful, highly effective, vigilant email security provider or solution. A support staff that treats all customers equally, regardless of the size of the client’s company. A staff that builds individual relationships- giving every business the customized attention that it deserves. Make sure that the provider you are assessing truly cares about your business’s safety and success. These values are essential.

Providing constant, real-time support is a critical element of any successful email security provider or solution. And yet this is something that often gets overlooked. Look for an email security provider that offers specialized, passionate support 24x7x365.

Exceptional customer support can be characterized by:

Around-the-clock system monitoring
Email security best practice advice
Guidance from expert engineers
Detailed monthly reports

For over a decade, we have counted on Guardian Digital’s solutions for a more secure and reliable mail environment. I’m grateful for their years of great Service. The staff is professional and prompt and has always had a quick resolution to our email inquiries or any other issue.

-Sheldon Huey, Sr. Operations Mgr. for for Enterprise Email, Best Western Hotels

Guardian Digital EnGarde Cloud Email Security Key Benefits

Protect Your Business With Highly Reliable Cloud Based Email Security

Superior security through real-time, resilient, threat ready open-source architecture
Multi-layered persistent threat protection
Zero-hour outbreak control that protects against new, unknown threats
Secure endpoint encryption using strong cryptography
Scalable cloud-based system that simplifies deployment and increases availability
Exceptional service & support

Email Security Provider & Solution Checklist

7 Things to Consider When Choosing a Solution For Email Security

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Simplifying the Process: Choosing a Business Email Security Solution that Effectively Protects Against Today’s Advanced and Evolving Email Threats