Technology

Unlocking the Power of Email Gateway Architecture

Email is much more than just a medium for sending messages. It links to essential workplace applications like file-sharing suites and is the key to a corporate network.

Delegated administrators can access mail policies and content filters. However, they cannot view sensitive content from DLP policies without Administrator privileges.

1. Getting Started

An email security gateway monitors inbound and outgoing emails to prevent malware, phishing attacks, spam, fraudulent content, and data leakage. It can be deployed as an on-premises appliance or a cloud service. 

The latter offers scalability to respond to traffic growth and avoid performance degradation quickly. Some gateways also offer add-on capabilities like email encryption. These generally require a separate charge and may have additional support or maintenance subscriptions.

Whether the product is an on-premises appliance or a hosted solution, an organization can manage email gateway security and protection through a web interface, console, and mobile apps. 

Most products allow administrators to set policies for emails, domains, and users based on the threat or risk they pose and manage quarantined messages and attachments. Some also provide archiving and eDiscovery for compliance, audit, and security purposes.

Barracuda Email Security, Cloud Integrated is a secure email gateway (SEG) that enhances native Microsoft 365 protections with powerful outbound filtering and data loss prevention. 

It can be easily configured with out-of-the-box settings that optimize security and make day-to-day administration a snap. It offloads CPU-intensive tasks to the cloud for faster response times and prevents threats from reaching the network edge.

2. Security

Ensure that your email gateway architecture is protected against cyber threats using the best-in-class security solutions. An email security solution acts as a barrier that filters incoming and outgoing emails for potential malware, phishing attacks, and spam. The system also analyzes content to stop sensitive data from leaving the company and encrypts messages with susceptible information.

An SEG can be deployed on-premises (using an on-site virtual appliance or software) or as a cloud service. Organizations that choose on-premises appliances or software are responsible for hardware and updates. In contrast, organizations that deploy their SEG as a cloud service must rely on the security vendor to maintain availability.

Many SEG vendors provide a range of security controls for stopping spam, known malware, and phishing, but advanced threats can often evade these traditional methods. To keep ahead of attackers and proactively protect against the most dangerous email threats, an SEG should offer additional security measures that can identify anomalies, suspicious connections, and suspicious attachments.

Additionally, it is essential to build a strong cybersecurity culture within the workplace by promoting a safe emailing protocol. This includes promoting secure Wi-Fi networks and ensuring that employees do not click links or open attachments found in unsolicited emails. Regularly communicate updates and reminders to end users to help them understand how to keep their systems safe.

3. Performance

Email security gateways are central to many cybersecurity solutions because they detect threats and prevent them from reaching their intended targets. Unlike antivirus and ant phishing tools that rely on end-user awareness and training, gateways monitor the network and filter messages before reaching individual devices. They use sophisticated detection capabilities and threat intelligence to remain current with the latest email threats.

Most gateways also offer data loss prevention capabilities, which thwart accidental or malicious leakage of sensitive information via email. They do so by analyzing outgoing emails for compliance violations, preventing sensitive content from leaving the organization, and even automatically encrypting messages with sensitive information.

Secure gateways can be deployed as an appliance, software, or cloud service, depending on the vendor. Companies that deploy them on-premises typically have to purchase and maintain the hardware and pay for connectivity to the organization’s mail servers. 

On the other hand, companies that deploy them as a cloud service do not have to worry about these responsibilities and can scale their services up or down quickly as needed.

Most secure gateway products include an option to install them in a network edge within a so-called demilitarized zone (DMZ). This deployment mode reduces the risk of an attack that exploits vulnerabilities in the device or operating system where the email is stored or sent. However, this deployment mode can be bypassed by hackers who can identify the gateway provider through MX records and reroute the email to their servers.

4. Scalability

Email is a critical tool for modern workplaces but can potentially expose sensitive information to cyber threats. Organizations can ensure that only safe emails reach the intended recipients by employing a secure gateway. These products act as barriers that filter incoming and outgoing messages for malware, phishing attempts, spam, and other common cyber-attacks.

Email security gateways can be deployed as on-premises appliances or software or as a cloud service. The latter option reduces IT workload by eliminating the need for hardware, updates, maintenance, and connectivity to email servers. In addition, cloud services offer scalability to address traffic spikes.

Most SEGs incorporate technology that prevents known threats from reaching the end user’s inbox. However, today’s sophisticated attacks often bypass these controls. To protect against business email compromise and zero-day phishing attacks, organizations should consider enhancing their gateway with natural language understanding and custom artificial intelligence models like Armor lox. 

These are designed to stop advanced threats from bypassing traditional binary detection methods. This technology can identify phishing attempts, wire fraud, payment fraud, vendor fraud, and more. These services can be connected in minutes over an API without requiring MX record changes, rerouting, or other security busywork.

Grace

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