Email security is a process of predicting, preventing, detecting, and responding to attacks. A comprehensive security approach to email encompasses firewalls, email systems, content protection, user behavior, and other related processes. In order to effectively secure emails, you must select products with the right capabilities and configurations, as well as ensure that your operational procedures are appropriate. A vast variety of solutions and capabilities for email security are available

Secure Email Gateway (SEG) SEGs have traditionally protected incoming and outgoing emails for on-premise systems, whether they were local appliances, virtual appliances, or cloud solutions. A SEG's functions include filtering SMTP traffic and modifying the mail exchange record that points to the SEG.

Integrated Cloud Email Security (ICES) Cloud email providers, such as Google and Microsoft, are becoming increasingly popular thanks to their built-in hygiene features. SEGs are less effective for cloud email systems. Therefore, the majority of advanced email security solutions today are ICESs.

ICES is more than just a malicious content filter. It offers in-line prompts that increase security awareness through training and detection of compromised internal accounts in addition to blocking malicious content.

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A standard EDP solution encrypts emails to detect and prevent unauthorized access to message content during or after dispatch. Further, if an email is sent to an incorrect recipient, the EDP prevents the information from being leaked.

Email is the most popular means of conducting malware attacks and stealing credit card numbers and other sensitive information through phishing. An amazing 40% of attacks begin through email. With the threat landscape changing and accelerating, it's crucial to reassess the effectiveness and functionality of current security solutions in light of the latest products. This is especially true since the incumbent solution may not take advantage of the newest protection technologies.

A number of email hygiene solutions are available from Google and Microsoft, such as:

• Filtering out emails sent by known bad senders
• Filtering out emails sent with known bad links
• Using antivirus software to scan attachments
• Detecting spam by

Despite the relatively few features it offers and the less sophisticated controls it provides, Google Workspace's simple—yet effective—three-tiered model is embraced by companies that use it for collaboration. The licensing process for Microsoft's E5 license package, which includes Microsoft Defender for Microsoft 365, can be complicated and expensive. A number of bundles and add-ons, however, are available to allow users to access advanced features. With all plans, Exchange Online Protection is included, as well as basic antiphishing, anti-spam, and anti-malware protection

The most common method of email security remains secure email gateways. Generally, SEGs are implemented as a physical or virtual appliance, but they can also be made available as a cloud service as well. In addition to basic hygiene solutions, SEG includes more advanced protection features, including:

• Multi-antivirus scanning
• URL rewriting • Graymail handling
• Sandbox integration
• Post-delivery clawback
• Quarantine for spam with end-user digests
• Key individual protection from impersonation

Email is usually the first point of entry for ransomware. Malware, however, is not the only threat. Business Email Compromise (BEC) and account hacking are also becoming more common. Because there is no attachment or link associated with these attacks, they are difficult to identify. They rely completely on social engineering to trap the recipient.

In previous studies: Gartner identified two categories of API products:
1. “Cloud email security supplements (CESSs) that focused on specific threats to enhance existing predelivery solutions.”
2. “Integrated email security solutions (IESSs) that implemented more of the traditional controls found in an SEG.”

The integration of Cloud Email Security can take place either pre- or post-delivery based on the APIs used. In the case of pre-delivery, the email is monitored before it gets into the user's inbox. In the case of post-delivery, the emails are intercepted once they reach the user’s inbox. The best of these solutions employ AI and machine learning to engage advanced algorithms and natural language processing (NLP) to identify and block potential threats.