One Big Threat Protection Problem, One Simple Email Security Solution

There’s no question, Microsoft 365 is a production powerhouse used by millions worldwide. It offers a multitude of robust products that allow easy collaboration and efficiency, and many organizations believe the email security features are adequately protecting them. The harsh truth is that it’s probably not protecting them as much as they think. 

The proverbial saying goes: “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.” This can come as a surprise, but to keep organizations protected, M365 should not be the sole solution. The big problem with using this sole email security is vulnerabilities. This article will go in-depth on the specific vulnerabilities left by the software giant. 

But What Can Be Done? 

So, what can organizations do to stay safe but not reinvent the wheel on their email security? Diversify, diversify, diversify! Multi-layered security is the remedy for stronger protection in tandem with M365.

Let’s face it, all the cybersecurity in the world won’t stop people from trying to infiltrate your organization. Every day, cybercriminals are trying to invent new ways of cybercrime utilizing email which remains at the helm of digital communications.  

M365 has many various levels of email security, including tools that deal with regulatory control through archiving and basic encryption. However, these are generally template rule sets that are provided to establish policies but typically do not deliver the deep content inspection required to remain secure and compliant.

Fortra Email Security Can Protect Your Business Better 

Adding one comprehensive email threat protection solution is now feasible! It's called Fortra's Advanced Email Security, and includes Clearswift's Secure Email Gateway (SEG). Layering the SEG to the existing M365 platform protects from external and the not-so-common, internal threats -- whether deployed through the cloud, on-premises, or in a hybrid environment. It also allows for policy-based encryption, functionality to detect sensitive information within images files and scanned documents, redacts sensitive data in documents among other features. 

Our SEG provides protection through its cloud-based sandbox where emails and attachments deemed suspicious from the antivirus receive deeper inspections. Once the sandbox reviews behavior, it sends the results to the SEG where the email or attachment will be blocked, dropped, or receive further checks. 

In addition, Fortra's Deep Content Inspection Engine (DCI) was the first of its kind and iterates down to 50 levels or greater. In fact, the level of structural verification and content inspection it performs is far greater than other products on the market. DCI filters and analyzes malicious content embedded in messages and attachments. This is code that can typically evade antivirus scans and sandboxing analysis. Once detected, the code is removed, and a sanitized version is ready and sent with little to no delay. The document remains in its intended format unlike other email security solutions that may alter the document to a new read-only format which can create productivity roadblocks. 

Other standout features include anti-steganography functionality and Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Anti-steganography prevents exfiltration of sensitive information hidden within image files, and OCR detects and redacts text within image files and scanned documents including PDFs.  

Internal threats, whether accidental or intentional, can be a loss of sensitive data within an organization resulting in failure of data compliance. Our SEG's functionalities stand above the rest with its ability to detect sensitive data like Personal Identifiable Information (PII) within an image (including screenshot or scanned documents). Once detected, sensitive data risks are removed prohibiting a common internal threat —which may result in data breaches and possible regulatory fines. Even metadata can be removed from documents before they are sent out of the organization. While sometimes overlooked as an issue, metadata in the wrong hands can lead to other security risks including information aiding in a Business Email Compromise tactic. 

It Also Augments Email Security within M365

There is no doubt that M365 is a robust tool with email security protections, but it also comes with shortfalls. These shortfalls have very real consequences. Protecting organizations against data loss with layered email security from Fortra fills gaps left by M365. Protection from inbound and outbound threats with layered email security can mitigate risks resulting in data breaches and failed data compliance.