The Top 6 Email Security Solutions For Schools

Barracuda Email Security is a cloud-deployed email security solution that integrates well with existing workflows, particularly Microsoft 365, and can integrate with on-prem mail servers. It can be deployed on-prem, virtually, and as SaaS. Easy to deploy and use, features are comprehensive, and the admin portal provides full visibility without being difficult to navigate.

Barracuda’s email security comes with robust scanning and filtering capabilities which can filter and isolate targeted threats including social engineering-based attacks, business email compromise, and more. These filters are AI-driven and can learn your organization’s way of communication and contact lists, helping it to respond to potential threats. Strong outbound filtering and encryption protocols prevents any data breaches as a result of misdelivery of sensitive data or information.

As school staff handle sensitive data regularly, including student information, protecting this data when it is in transit is vital. Data loss prevention policies prevent this sensitive information from being sent via email, with policies being able to automatically encrypt, isolate, or block when detected in outbound emails based on sender, receiver, and content.

Barracuda offers more than one plan, though not all are suited for smaller educational organizations. Barracuda Advanced is the cheapest one and not as comprehensive as the others but is more suited to K12-level institutions and still offers strong security. Free trials are available and pricing is supplied via a quotation request.

Hornetsecurity is a German-based company offering a strong email security solution that is legally compliant in a range of locations, falling in line with local government guidelines. It’s a highly deployable, manageable solution that is cost effective, making it an attractive option for schools looking to tighten security without going over budget.

The solution offers strong filtering and detection capabilities that can find spam or malware in emails, including in attachments and links. These filters can also detect and block phishing attempts, track URLs, and also filter any outbound traffic that may contain sensitive information going to the wrong destination. These filtering capabilities are all done in the cloud, meaning there’s set up or installation required for end-users. Hornetsecurity’s virus filters are also continuously being updated, ensuring that the solution remains as relevant as possible.

Infomail that doesn’t class as spam can be filtered out and retrieved later, ensuring a clean, fuss-free inbox for end-users. Hornetsecurity solutions also include data encryption for when data is in transit through TLS, ensuring all data and information – including sensitive student information – is kept protected.

Pricing is supplied via a quotation request.

From industry leader Proofpoint is a manageable email security solution: Proofpoint Essentials. It is a cloud-based platform, with no hardware or software to deploy. Essentials is geared towards smaller organizations and aims to ease the workload of small IT teams. Due to its cloud-based deployment, updates are automatic. Management and configuration is streamlined via a single platform that is both clean to look at and easy to navigate.

For a reduced cost, organizations don’t quite get as many features as other Proofpoint solutions, but admins are still equipped with extensive granular controls and flexibility. Essentials offers highly accurate email classification, control over social media accounts, and customization controls based on users and user groups, and quarantine access.

Essentials comes with any standard email security protocols expected of the product, including strong encryption and data loss prevention capabilities. Robust inbound email filtering can also scan not just the email content but any attachments and URLs for anything suspicious. Email archiving can help users keep track and protect data and information, with data being stored safely away from other users and locked with a unique encryption key.

Pricing for Proofpoint Essentials is supplied via a quotation request.

SpamTitan is an email security solution that is affordable yet doesn’t compromise on security. SpamTitan is noted for its ease of deployment and management, with administrators finding the platform intuitive to work with.

It comes with a next-generation sandbox feature, allowing for the remediation of particularly advanced threats. Inbound and outbound scanning is done with AI technology, which is constantly learning and adapting to be able to respond to emerging and new threats, as well as preventing outbound data loss through the mis-sending of data and information. Thorough filtering capabilities will scan emails for any malicious content, extending to files, links, and other attachments, as well as sender ID and location. SpamTitan employs six real-time blocklists to refer to which are continually being updated. SpamTitan is particularly successful in filtering out spam emails, with a minimum of 90% of all spam emails being successfully filtered out.

SpamTitan comes in a range of tailored products that can suit more specific organization needs. Variations for Office 365, Cloud, Gateway, and Service Providers are offered. A 30 day free trial is available. Pricing starts at $1.26 per user per month for a monthly payment. Other payment plans are available.

Trustifi is a market leader in cybersecurity solutions. They have a tailored solution for educational institutions, which is a cloud-based and SaaS email security solution that integrates well with most email clients, including Microsoft and Google. AES 256-bit encryption ensures that all data and information, whether at rest or in transit, stays secure. It’s HIPAA/HITECH, PII, GDPR, FSA, FINRA, LGPD, and CCPA compliant.

Trustifi enables machine-learning AI-engines which constantly scan for targeted threats, including threats that SEGs can’t detect such as socially engineered threats. Any threats detected are immediately blocked and isolated.

The solution also comes with strong data loss prevention capabilities, which will automatically encrypt an email if it detects any sensitive content based on predetermined policies, even if the sender forgets to encrypt an email themselves. Users and admins can also track their email delivery statuses, confirming whether an email has been received and opened, set expiration for the email and subsequent attachments, and rescind permissions before the recipient can open the email. Among other features, admins remain in the loop with robust reporting into user behavior, including what emails have been sent, who have they been sent to, and who has sent them.

Trustifi has offers that cater to the size of your organization. Pricing is supplied via a quotation request.

Vipre’s Email Security solution is integratable with most systems and browsers, and can be deployed as hardware, SaaS, and cloud. It’s cost effective, easy to install, and doesn’t take up a lot of space, making it a strong option for schools with small IT teams.

A clean yet in-depth console provides admins with complete transparency into all email threats – potential or confirmed – and what exactly has been quarantined and needs inspection. Admins are also granted with detailed report logs on end-users activity and spam logs, and can set up allow and deny lists, totalling blocking emails from predetermined lists. Other capabilities include outbound email scanning, TLS encryption, and large-file handling policies.

Emails trying to reach end-users will go through numerous checks. Robust filtering will scan emails and block based on any protocol errors, if the sender cannot be verified, and if the sender is on any blacklists. These filters can also scan email content, attachment, and links for any suspected malware and block accordingly. Spam emails, including potential phishing attacks, will also be blocked. Emails will then be subject to a final virus check before reaching an inbox.

Pricing for Vipre Email Security is available via a quotation request. A free trial is available.