Dealing with spam can be frustrating, expensive, and time-consuming. For businesses, spam can be seriously harmful, with attackers using spam email to spread malware to business users. For these reasons, it’s vital that any business relying on emails for both internal and external communications has a strong email filtering solution in place to stop spam.
Email filtering solutions categorize all inbound email traffic to determine whether each email is safe and should be delivered, or malicious and should be blocked. Email filters sort emails into categories like spam, grey-mail, viruses, and phishing attacks, which determines whether the emails should be delivered to users.
But not all email spam filters offer the same functionality. Some are simplified for email accounts that need to block spam, but don’t need the highest level of threat protection, while others are for enterprise users that need strong defenses against cyber-attacks to protect their users and data.
The anti-spam filters we’ve outlined in this article are all cloud-based solutions. This article will cover the best anti-spam email filtering solutions for a range of use cases.
TitanHQ Email Security is a leading solution designed to protect organizations from email-based threats including spam, phishing, ransomware, viruses, and suspicious URLs. It features a Secure Email Gateway (SEG) that blocks 99.9% of inbound threats and integrates double antivirus protection using Bitdefender and ClamAV engines.
Why We Picked TitanHQ Email Security: We appreciate its comprehensive protection against a wide array of email threats and its seamless integration with Office 365, making it an ideal choice for businesses utilizing this platform.
TitanHQ Email Security Best Features: Key features include a powerful spam-blocking engine with whitelisting and blacklisting capabilities, real-time inbound and outbound email scanning for phishing and data loss prevention, six built-in Real-Time Blacklists (RBLs), content filtering, and Data Leak Prevention (DLP). It also offers easy-to-view quarantine reports and customizable policies for administrators. The solution integrates well with Office 365.
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Pricing: For detailed pricing, visit TitanHQ directly.
Who it’s for: TitanHQ Email Security is best suited for SMBs and MSPs seeking a low-maintenance, yet powerful solution to enhance their email security, especially those using Office 365.
Abnormal Security Email Productivity is a San Francisco-based email security platform designed to combat phishing, malware, ransomware, spam, and graymail. It uses organization-specific profiles to provide tailored protection, adapting to the evolving landscape of email threats.
Why We Picked Abnormal Security Email Productivity: We like its ability to build organization-specific profiles for effective spam and graymail prevention. The solution’s self-learning capabilities allow it to refine protection over time.
Abnormal Security Email Productivity Best Features: Key features include organization-specific profiles, analysis of sender-recipient relationships, intent, content, and attachments. It can identify spam even if it has passed DKIM and SPF checks. The platform integrates seamlessly into existing security stacks.
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Pricing: For pricing details, visit Abnormal Security directly.
Who it’s for: Abnormal Security Email Productivity is best suited for organizations of all sizes that need an adaptive and robust spam prevention solution.
Libraesva Email Security is an integrated solution that provides advanced protection for cloud-based email platforms like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. It filters emails at both the Gateway and API level, effectively managing threats such as spam, viruses, and phishing attacks.
Why We Picked Libraesva Email Security: We appreciate its comprehensive threat detection powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence. The Threat Remediation function stands out, automatically removing potential spam and phishing emails from affected inboxes.
Libraesva Email Security Best Features: Key features include machine learning and AI-driven threat detection, the Threat Intelligence and Adaptive Trust Engines, Threat Remediation, deep URL scanning, and account takeover protection. It offers spoofing protection via SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, QuickSand sandbox defense against malicious files, time-of-click URL protection, and defenses against Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks like CEO fraud and whaling. The Threat Analysis Portal (TAP) provides detailed data on email threats, while integrations include SIEM systems and other applications, end-to-end encryption, and email continuity.
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Pricing: Contact Libraesva directly for pricing information.
Who it’s for: Libraesva Email Security is best suited for organizations using cloud-based email platforms seeking robust, multi-layered email security with detailed threat analysis and remediation capabilities.
Proofpoint Essentials is a leading Secure Email Gateway platform designed for small and midsized organizations. It offers comprehensive protection against email threats such as spam, malware, and phishing, along with email archiving and encryption capabilities.
Why We Picked Proofpoint Essentials: We appreciate Proofpoint’s market-leading spam filtering, which guarantees to block over 99% of spam emails. Additionally, their recent enhancements in Business Email Compromise (BEC) detection and predictive URL defense tools significantly improve threat protection.
Proofpoint Essentials Best Features: Key features include advanced spam filtering, malware and phishing protection, email archiving, encryption, and granular control over email messaging. New additions include email warning tags for suspicious emails, one-click message pull, enhanced BEC defense, and predictive URL defense tools. Integrations support various email systems, enhancing its utility.
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Pricing: For detailed pricing, visit Proofpoint’s website.
Who it’s for: Proofpoint Essentials is ideal for small to midsized businesses seeking robust email security with advanced threat protection features and user-friendly management tools.
Avanan, acquired by Check Point in 2021, is a cloud-native, machine learning-powered solution that safeguards businesses against email and collaboration app threats like phishing, malware, and account takeover. With native API integrations for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, Avanan offers robust security for emails, Slack, and Teams.
Why We Picked Avanan: We selected Avanan for its machine learning capabilities that analyze email patterns to establish normal behavior for each user, enabling precise threat detection. Its extensive protection across email and collaboration platforms is a significant advantage.
Avanan Best Features: Key features include machine learning-driven email analysis, URL reputation scanning and rewriting, protection for inbound, outbound, and internal emails, and security for collaboration apps like Slack and Teams. Additional offerings include attachment and link sandboxing, file sanitization, data loss prevention, encryption, email archiving, incident response-as-a-Service, and DMARC.
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Pricing: For pricing information, contact Avanan directly.
Who it’s for: Avanan is ideal for organizations seeking to block sophisticated social engineering attacks and secure not only their email but also other collaboration apps like Microsoft Teams and Slack. It suits businesses of any size, particularly larger enterprises.
Barracuda Essentials is a comprehensive email protection solution tailored for small and midsized businesses. It offers robust defense mechanisms against malware, spam, spear-phishing, and ransomware, alongside email archiving and encryption features.
Why We Picked Barracuda Essentials: We appreciate its comprehensive threat protection, which includes inbound email filtering, URL protection, and attachment sandboxing. Its integration with Sentinel enhances phishing and spear-phishing defense in Office 365 environments.
Barracuda Essentials Best Features: Key features include multi-layered threat protection, email archiving, encryption, automated incident response, and remediation. It also provides URL and attachment protection, spam filtering, and phishing, malware, and link protection. Integrations include compatibility with Office 365 through Sentinel.
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Pricing: For detailed pricing, visit Barracuda’s website.
Who it’s for: Barracuda Essentials is best suited for small and midsized businesses seeking a comprehensive, cloud-based email protection solution with advanced phishing defenses.
Cisco Email Security is a robust solution that safeguards organizations against email-based threats such as malware, business email compromise, and phishing attacks. It offers comprehensive protection for both inbound and outbound emails, suitable for mid-sized to large organizations.
Why We Picked Cisco Email Security: We like its advanced threat protection, utilizing attachment protection and URL scanning to mitigate risks effectively. Additionally, its Context Adaptive Scanning Engine provides powerful spam filtering.
Cisco Email Security Best Features: Key features include multi-layered protection against malware, phishing, and business email compromise, as well as URL scanning and attachment protection. It also offers email encryption and data loss prevention for outgoing emails. Cisco’s Context Adaptive Scanning Engine examines email content to block spam, while reputation filtering stops 99% of spam before it enters the network. The solution supports both on-premise deployment and integration with cloud-based platforms like Office 365 and G Suite.
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Pricing: For detailed pricing, visit Cisco’s official website.
Who it’s for: Cisco Email Security is best suited for mid-sized to large organizations needing comprehensive email security, especially those utilizing cloud-based email platforms.
Trustifi Email Security is a cloud-based solution that offers robust inbound email protection against spam, malware, phishing, and other threats. It scans emails directly within the inbox, enabling fast and accurate threat remediation.
Why We Picked Trustifi Email Security: We appreciate Trustifi’s comprehensive scanning capabilities and its seamless integration with Office 365 and Google Workspace via API, which simplifies deployment without requiring MX-record changes.
Trustifi Email Security Best Features: The platform includes InboundShield for comprehensive email scanning, real-time threat detection, email safety scoring, user reporting tools, and customizable admin policies. It integrates effortlessly with Office 365 and Google Workspace.
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Pricing: For detailed pricing, visit Trustifi’s website.
Who it’s for: Trustifi Email Security is ideal for small to enterprise organizations, especially in the legal, financial, and healthcare sectors, seeking powerful, multi-layered inbound email protection.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a cloud-based email filtering service that enhances the default protection of the Microsoft 365 email platform. It safeguards against sophisticated email threats such as phishing, business email compromise, and malicious files and attachments.
Why We Picked Microsoft Defender for Office 365: We like its seamless integration with Microsoft 365, extending protection across all M365 apps. Its AI-driven threat protection automates anti-phishing and anti-malware safeguards.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Best Features: Key features include AI-powered threat protection, anti-phishing policies, anti-malware safeguards, real-time reports, and advanced threat protection policies. Integrations include Microsoft’s XDR, SIEM, and Intune solutions, providing a holistic security platform.
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Pricing: For detailed pricing, contact Microsoft directly.
Who it’s for: Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is best suited for small to medium-sized businesses seeking enhanced email security within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It is ideal for organizations needing advanced admin controls, policy management, and spam filtering.
Mimecast is an enterprise email security provider that delivers robust protection against email threats. Their solutions utilize AI, machine learning, and social graphing to offer advanced defense against spam, targeted attacks, and phishing.
Why We Picked Mimecast: We appreciate Mimecast’s Cloud Integrated solution for its quick deployment and accurate detection of phishing, impersonation, and malicious content within Microsoft 365 environments.
Mimecast Key Features: The Cloud Integrated build provides a simplified, cloud-based platform without MX record changes, offering 30-day scan back, one-click remediation, and warning banners. The Cloud Gateway build caters to more complex setups, supporting Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, on-prem, cloud, and hybrid environments. It includes multi-layered email inspection, URL rewriting, static file analysis, sandboxing, and social graphing for anomaly detection. Integrations include SIEM, SOAR, TIP, XDR, and other Mimecast solutions like DMARC management, email backup/archiving, and security awareness training.
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Pricing: Contact Mimecast directly for pricing information.
Best Suited For: Mimecast’s Cloud Integrated solution is ideal for SMBs using Microsoft 365, while the Cloud Gateway suits organizations of any size with diverse email environments.
Email filtering services will use a layered mixture of firewalls and filters to identify and block unwanted messages. Each layer will scan for specific indicators of compromise (IOC) – these are specific features that suggest an email is suspicious.
Many email filtering solutions will also include CRM or sandboxing features. CRM stands for content disarm and reconstruction – this is where a suspicious file is unpacked and stripped of any executable material to ensure it is clean. Sandboxing provides an isolated and safe space where software can be executed to assess its behavior and decide if it is malicious or not.
Spam is both annoying and dangerous. How many times do you go in to work on a Monday morning to find an inbox full of annoying, irrelevant spam emails?
Spam filtering solutions will ensure that this nuisance mail is identified and blocked before it enters your mailbox. Not only is this less annoying, but it is also more productive. It means that employees don’t have to spend their valuable time sifting through nuisance emails until they find something important.
Spam emails can be dangerous too. Most of the time they are simply advertisements that are irrelevant. In some cases, however, these emails may have malicious content. This might be an innocent looking link that takes you to a spoofed website, or a malware-infested download.
Joel Witts is the Content Director at Expert Insights, meaning he oversees all articles published and topics covered. He is an experienced journalist and writer, specialising in identity and access management, Zero Trust, cloud business technologies, and cybersecurity. Joel is a co-host of the Expert Insights Podcast and conducts regular interviews with leading B2B tech industry experts, including directors at Microsoft and Google. Joel holds a First Class Honours degree in Journalism from Cardiff University.
Craig MacAlpine is CEO and founder of Expert Insights. Before founding Expert Insights in August 2018, Craig spent 10 years as CEO of EPA cloud, an email security provider acquired by Ziff Davies, formerly J2Global (NASQAQ: ZD) in 2013, which has now been rebranded as VIPRE Email Security. Craig has extensive experience in the email security industry, with 20+ years of experience helping organizations to stay secure with innovative information security and cyber security solutions.