A Secure Email Gateway (SEG) is an email security solution that prevents the transmission of emails that break company policy, send malware, or transfer information with malicious intent. SEGs are used by businesses of all sizes to protect their internal email servers from cyberattacks.

SEGs work by scanning all emails before they leave or enter a server and are configurable to allow users to control how their emails are handled. They can also quarantine and report suspicious emails based on policies.

Spam Filtering

Spam is unwanted bulk communication that can be sent through email, text messages, and social media. It can be unpleasant to receive and may even cause users to miss critical communications. An anti-spam filter can help keep these types of emails out of user inboxes and reduce the workload on email servers.

Moreover, spam filters can identify malicious activity, such as zero-day attacks, phishing scams, and malware. As an added layer of security, they also prevent employees from sending or receiving an email that contains suspicious links or attachments.

A spam filter can be deployed on a server or as a hosted service in the cloud. This allows organizations to scale their technology infrastructure faster and with less management effort.

Several types of spam filters exist, including rule-based and Bayesian filters. These are designed to recognize and apply email patterns to future ones.

Rule-based spam filtering is a form of content-based filtering that allows you to set custom rules for sending or receiving certain kinds of emails. For example, a rule-based spam filter may be configured to send all emails from a specific person or organization straight into the spam folder.

Reputation-based spam filters attempt to stop spam by using a database of known spammers and trusted senders. They can also approve or block senders based on the reputation of their IP addresses and domain names.

Data Encryption

Email is one of the most common forms of communication companies use, and cybercriminals are constantly looking for ways to exploit it. Secure email gateway services are essential for businesses that want to keep their data and reputation safe.

A secure email gateway can help a company remain compliant with data privacy regulations such as HIPAA or other Federal or State laws by encrypting emails that contain sensitive information. This is particularly important for companies that need to protect patient data.

Typically, data is encrypted at rest or in transit. Using encryption means that no one can read the data without decrypting it first. It can also prevent message replay attacks — in which malicious parties re-send messages they intercepted.

In addition, a secure email gateway can offer archiving capabilities that help businesses ensure they’re keeping data safe for the right time and meeting compliance requirements. This can reduce the time it takes to complete eDiscovery and audit reporting processes.

Secure email gateways can be installed on-premises or in the cloud, depending on an organization’s specific needs. While on-premises solutions require security vendors to purchase, maintain and update their hardware, cloud services can be easily scalable to handle spikes in demand. This can make them more attractive to organizations that want to focus on protecting their data.

Content Filtering

Content filtering is the process of identifying undesirable content and blocking it. It can be applied to the web or email traffic and block access to sites that violate corporate policies or are considered objectionable.

It can also protect employees from inappropriate or illegal content on the internet. It can help businesses ensure compliance with data privacy regulations by blocking websites that contain sensitive information like social security numbers or private mailing addresses.

The best content filters use machine learning to detect and reject undesirable content over time automatically. This can be a more effective method of protecting business data than manually tweaking rules.

Another critical aspect of content filtering is preventing phishing attacks by detecting and blocking emails that appear to be from a trusted organization. These emails trick users into revealing their credentials or transferring money to hackers. Phishing is the second most common cause of data breaches.

A secure email gateway can prevent phishing attacks by scanning emails and attachments for malicious URLs and malware and enabling admins to quarantine and remove these malicious emails. It can also protect against business email compromise (BEC) by blocking or rejecting malicious content before it can reach your organization’s network.

Reporting

Data privacy regulations are designed to keep sensitive personal information (PII) safe. For example, European law outlines that anything that can identify someone is considered personal data and should be kept confidential and secure.

This includes email. It is a primary mode of communication for many businesses, and GDPR has strict rules for handling and storing it. PII can include things like names, dates of birth, social security numbers, bank account details, and medical records.

However, PII is only one type of personal data. Other types require strict protection under GDPR, including employee data, customer data, trade union data, and additional information.

While a secure email gateway may help you comply with these laws, ensuring that your solution is up-to-date and complies with industry best practices is essential. You can do this by evaluating the features of your current solution and upgrading as needed.

A secure email gateway can protect against many threats, such as phishing attacks, Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes, Denial-of-Service (DoS), and spam attacks. It can also provide email archiving, content filtering, and encryption.

In addition, a secure email gateway should support reporting capabilities that can help organizations meet data privacy requirements. For instance, reporting systems can highlight the most significant changes in a company’s data.