Email security and threat protection can easily slip to the bottom of your list of priorities when you’re managing IT for a small or medium sized business. With so many tasks to get through day-to-day, your energy and focus are drawn in other directions.

Our five simple tips will help you home in on a solution that’s right for your organization.Get best-in-class email security Email is the number 1 threat vector for most cyber-attacks, so a comprehensive, best-in-class email protection solution is one of the most critical security investments you can make. However, only 10% of security spend is focused on email security – a fact of which malicious actors are well aware (Gartner).

The strength of any email security solution is dependent on data to which the vendor has access. The most deployed will have hundreds of thousands of customers feeding real-time threat intelligence into their threat data library. Choose a vendor with unrivalled access to data, so you get access to the very best threat intelligence.

No email gateway can keep every threat out, but without a secure email gateway, it’s much easier for threats to get through to your users.

Your people are your perimeter

85% of actual breaches involve a human element (Verizon DBIR 2021). Attackers target people because they know it’s much easier to fool someone into giving them access than to force their way into your business systems.

This is why it is so important to empower your users to be part of your security defenses. Your best-in-class email security means that when they do click on a URL, they’re already protected; when they click an attachment, it’s already been scanned. But bad actors are targeting people, so your security posture must involve comprehensive security awareness training.

This is a key piece of the puzzle of protecting your people, wherever they’re working and whatever device they’re using – by educating them to stay safe and alert.

Close open doors in Office 365

If your organization has embraced Microsoft Office 365 in the last few years, you’re far from alone. It’s a world-class collaboration tool that has played a huge part in enabling users to work from anywhere, on any device. But have you also seen an uptick in phishing attacks or spam? How much time have you spent on investigation and remediation?

With Office 365 E3 plans, a common choice for SMBs, Microsoft Defender is not included. There are no advanced threat protection features included, limited information protection, and native email security doesn’t have URL defense or attachment defense. In the modern threat landscape, that is equivalent to an open door.

Your world-class collaboration tool is putting your organization at risk without the world-class security to match.

Choose ease of management

You shouldn’t need a masterclass to manage your threat protection tool. It should be simple to deploy, easy to manage, and work straight out of the box, with additional technical support available should you need it.

Full DLP and encryption tools are also important to look for, and their ease of use can make a huge difference day-to-day. The same applies to safe-listing security awareness training attacks – you should look for a solution where this can be done with a click as part of the tool rather than manually adding every exercise.

Look for superior value

It may sound too good to be true, but ideally you need a purpose-built solution that addresses all the above and includes additional functionality at a compelling price point.

A superior solution in this space offers best-in-class email security, data protection, targeted attack protection, social media protection and continuity alongside the all-important security awareness training for your users.

Click here to download our guide to Proofpoint Essentials Threat Protection

This bundle takes enterprise-grade email security, combines it with security awareness training, simplifies it for ease of use without reducing efficacy, and turns it into a plug-and-play solution that will make your job easier.

Get in touch to find out more.

** Optrics Inc. is an Silver Tier proofpoint partner