Integrated Cloud Email Security (ICES) Solutions are a cloud-based email security services designed to work natively with cloud email platforms such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. These tools are designed to provide enhanced protection for sophisticated email threats such as phishing, malicious URLs and attachments, account compromise, and harmful email messages.
ICES solutions work alongside the native email protection offered by cloud-based email platforms. Unlike traditional secure email gateways, they are deployed directly into the email inbox environment, meaning they can scan internal email messages and remediate malicious email messages even after they have been delivered to users. This means that you can ensure that your accounts are not being used to distribute malicious content, as well as protecting them from it. They are typically deployed either by API, or by using mail flow rules. This is unlike traditional SEGs which require changes to MX-records.
Key features of an ICES solution include warning banners, contextual message scanning using machine learning algorithms, automated remediation of phishing and scams, real-time content and URL malware scanning, and identification of compromised accounts based on mailbox and user activity. These services can be used alongside the traditional SEG as an extra layer of protection, but are increasingly replacing the SEG altogether, particularly for cloud-native businesses.