Only in the first 3 months of 2021, the Information Security Department, the Ministry of Information and Communications has recorded 1,271 cyber-attacks causing problems in information systems. Of the total 1,271 attacks, malware accounts for 49%, and phishing accounts for 35%. These numbers show that the risk of enterprise cyber-attacks is increasing, as most employees are now working from home and using personal devices. The number of emails exchanged has increased when employees are working from home like today. The email has obviously become the number one target for hackers to steal information and perform fraud. Therefore, to prevent attacks on important data, businesses need to equip a mail gateway system for their email boxes.
What is Mail Gateway?
Mail Gateway provides email security by blocking threats before they reach the mail server, whether you are using on-premise or Office 365 / G-Suite. This system protects businesses from spam, viruses, malware, and denial of service attacks. Email Gateway scans all incoming, outgoing, and internal email, including attachments and URLs, for malicious content.
The email firewall will also protect against social engineering attacks such as phishing or corporate email intrusion. Firewalls can check the domain of incoming emails, as well as scan for suspicious content in emails to prevent dangerous content from entering the system. Emails marked as dangerous will be quarantined or rejected. In addition, some systems will allow administrators to access quarantined emails if necessary.
Besides blocking incoming threats, email firewalls also scan outgoing content. This can help protect businesses from data loss. Some email firewalls will provide email archiving. This function stores emails for legal and data management purposes. It also provides businesses with continuity features, which means that when a business’s email network is disrupted, they can still access their email. Mail Gateway also provides businesses with a management dashboard and a range of reports and analytics. Helps businesses have an overview of all email traffic in the network. As a result, they have a deeper understanding of their network security system.
Why is Email Gateway important for businesses?
Email is the number one target for hackers to gain access to a company’s personal data and conduct attacks like phishing. Email is a weak point in an enterprise’s business network, and email attack methods are becoming more and more targeted and sophisticated. All industries face the risk of malicious attacks such as phishing, ransomware, and malicious attachments.
The first line of defense a business needs is an email gateway. This solution helps protect businesses by blocking malicious content in emails and preventing malicious emails from reaching the inbox.
How does an email security firewall work?
An email security firewall is a collection of different technologies that work together to block email threats. They specify which emails can enter or leave your email network. They scan all incoming and outgoing emails to prevent malicious content from entering employee mailboxes. They also provide features like virus and malware blocking, spam filtering, content filtering, and email archiving. Email gateway can be configured in the cloud. The cloud simplifies system deployment and management, without the need for time-consuming hardware installation or maintenance.
Firewalls filter emails before they reach the inbox. Therefore, they have absolutely no impact on the end user’s device. That is, it provides strong protection for the email client on all devices, not just corporate devices. Businesses can then protect remote employees or employees who are using their own computers for work. And it also does not affect the performance of these devices.
What are the main features of Secure Mail Gateway?
Spam filtering : Spam filtering is a core feature of an email firewall system. All mail gateway servers use filtering technology to block or isolate emails from spam email lists. It also uses algorithms to detect elements that often appear in spam emails, such as keywords and malicious links. It also provides functionality for end-users to report and block spam emails sent from within their mail client.
Anti-virus and malware : The firewall system helps to block viruses and malware from infecting the enterprise network. It uses virus detection technology and then quarantines emails containing malicious URLs and attachments.
Anti-phishing email : With anti-phishing technology, they can detect and prevent sender spoofing and validate domains to identify and block phishing attacks. Anti-virus and malware protection will also help delete emails with dangerous URLs and attachments, preventing emails with phishing links from being sent to users’ inboxes.
Admin control and reporting functionality : mail gateway gives the admin control overall regulations and quarantined email. Administrators can manage the security of the entire email network with a centralized admin console. Providing both default reports and self-configuring reports allows administrators to better manage the enterprise’s security system.
Benefits of a security firewall
Security firewalls bring many benefits to businesses. They protect employees from email threats like spam, viruses, and phishing attacks, which in turn also protects the business. Employees are the biggest attack intermediary for businesses, and email is the main method for attackers to reach employees. Owning an email firewall allows businesses to enhance employee security by blocking malicious emails and preventing phishing attacks.
Some email security firewall systems offer email encryption and storage. Enables businesses to protect their sensitive data and meet the need to store copies of email for legal purposes. This means businesses can achieve greater security and meet regulatory compliance needs.
Email firewalls help keep the business running, which means email can function properly even if your email client crashes. This is because the provider allows users to access a cloud-based email service in case an email client like Office 365 is unavailable.
Which businesses need to equip Email Gateway?
Cybersecurity experts recommend that all businesses of all sizes and industries use an email firewall. There are many different mail gateway providers, suitable for businesses from small to large scale.
Regardless of the size of the business, email communications are a prime target for scammers. Therefore, mail gateway is an important security solution to protect enterprise data. Using a mail gateway will help businesses increase their security level more.
List of Top Email Gateway Providers
- SpamTitan
- Proofpoint
- Avanan
- Trustifi
- Mimecast
- Barracuda Essentials
- Cisco
- IRONSCALES
- Microsoft Defender
- N-able
- Forcepoint
Mail Gateway EG Platform - The leading security solution for businesses
VNETWORK’s Mail Gateway EG Platform has passed RAPID7’s 364 tests without detecting any security holes. The system uses AI and machine learning to develop 3 layers of protection for enterprise email systems: Send GUARD, Spam GUARD, Receive GUARD. These layers of protection ensure the safety of your incoming and outgoing email. From now on, you will no longer have to worry about phishing or targeted hacker attacks.
ReceiveGUARD is a feature that sets us apart from other providers. Receive GUARD is qualified to pass the rules of network security and ensure the security of the system in Korea. The system tracks the sending and receiving routes of emails. If the email route is changed, the system will detect and alert the recipient. Undesirable situations such as an employee accidentally clicking on a dangerous link are also unlikely because there is a feature of scanning the content of the test. Any malicious content will be warned or encoded into an image to avoid unfortunate actions. In addition, the filter of the Mail Gateway EG Platform also evaluates the security of messages based on the system’s own standards.
SendGUARD acts as an outgoing email protection layer that protects the mail server. Ensure data security for businesses by controlling the flow of outgoing emails, preventing hackers from reading content. Anti-attack mail servers from dangerous countries prevent intruding mail servers with fake emails. The system log records the activities and visits to the mail server in the most detail. If the destination is fake emails, SendGUARD will immediately warn users, prevent internal information theft and respond to phishing emails.
SpamGUARD supports email filtering based on international lists and blocks emails containing websites you don’t like or are banned. Some businesses and partners whose email configuration is not standard will still send that message to users if the domain is whitelisted. Conversely, emails that are blacklisted will be blocked immediately, regardless of whether it is a clean email or standard configuration.