Top Email Security Tools
Email Security Tools
Email remains the most common initial access path for modern breaches—phishing, impersonation/BEC, malicious URLs, and account takeover (ATO).
A strong email security tool should do more than block spam: it should detect sophisticated social engineering, contain post-delivery risk, and make remediation fast.
How to Choose an Email Security Tool
Look For
Coverage
- Phishing
- BEC/impersonation
- URL/attachment threats
- Internal/outbound threats
- User-reported email workflows
ATO Resilience
- Ability to detect suspicious mailbox activity (rules, forwarding, OAuth apps, etc.)
- Protection of sensitive email data
- Reduction of blast radius after compromise
Deployment Model
- Secure email gateway (SEG)
- API-based
- Hybrid
Operational Load
- Tuning requirements
- False positives
- User-reported email volume
- Speed of remediation across mailboxes
Ecosystem Fit
- Microsoft 365 support
- Google Workspace support
- SIEM/SOAR integrations for automation
DMARC and Domain Protection Ownership
- Whether DMARC management is required
- Whether it is handled in-product or through a dedicated DMARC tool
Material Security
Best For
Security teams on Google Workspace and/or Microsoft 365 that want a complete approach to email security: stop sophisticated inbound attacks and contain account takeovers with automated remediation and strong context across the cloud office.
What It Is
Material positions email security as more than inbound blocking—combining detection for advanced attacks with account takeover containment and automated response.
Internally, the product direction emphasizes correlating the initial email with what happens after (mail rules, Drive access, downloads) so teams can detect and respond across the attack chain—not just the message.
Key Capabilities
- Stops sophisticated attacks like VIP impersonation, BEC, and other attacks that bypass native defenses
- Contains email account takeovers by combining protection of sensitive email data and expansion attempts with behavior analysis and automated remediation
- API-based deployment for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 (no network changes, zero downtime)
- “EDR for Email” framing: detection and response that continues inside the environment (risky rules, unsanctioned apps, misconfigurations)
- Internally, a key theme is providing out-of-the-box detection plus sensitivity/context (what’s sensitive in email/files) to make correlation and prioritization practical for lean teams
Why Teams Choose Material
Beyond the Perimeter
Email security tools often “stop at the email.” Material combines world-class inbound protection with detection and response capabilities across the entire cloud office, correlating surrounding activity for higher-confidence response.
Reduce Blast Radius Fast
Material emphasizes automation and playbooks so response doesn’t rely on perfect prevention.
Final Thoughts
Material Security is a Google Workspace/Microsoft 365 security platform that stops advanced email threats, contains account takeovers and provides comprehensive cloud office security with API-based deployment and automated remediation across the full incident lifecycle.
Proofpoint
Best For
Large organizations that want a mature secure email gateway with broad threat protection and strong ecosystem depth, especially when domain protection/DMARC management is a hard requirement.
What It Is
Proofpoint’s Email Protection is a secure email gateway approach focused on blocking malicious payloads, URLs, and impersonation-style attacks (including BEC).
Key Capabilities
- BEC/impersonation analysis using AI-based approaches plus signals like header mismatches and DMARC-related feedback loops
- URL rewriting with click-time inspection and protections like sandboxing / browser isolation
- Post-delivery actions like moving newly-identified malicious messages to quarantine
Considerations
If DMARC management is non-negotiable for your team, validate whether Proofpoint (or your planned stack) fully covers DMARC operational needs vs. requiring a separate DMARC platform.
Gateway-centric programs can still struggle with what happens after a phish succeeds (rules, access, data movement), which often requires additional tools/workflows beyond inbound filtering.
Final Thoughts
Proofpoint is a mature, enterprise-grade secure email gateway that focuses on blocking inbound threats and impersonation/BEC, with click-time URL protection and post-delivery quarantine—often selected when DMARC/domain protection requirements are central to the program.
Barracuda
Best For
Teams that want a straightforward cloud email protection suite with layered threat defenses and incident response/remediation options.
What It Is
Barracuda Email Protection combines spam/malware defense, phishing/impersonation protection, sandboxing, link protection, and incident response features.
Key Capabilities
- Spam/malware/advanced threat protection with sandboxing/detonation for suspicious attachments
- Link protection (including URL rewriting and click-time analysis)
- Impersonation/BEC detection via anomaly-based approaches
- Incident response features to identify affected users and remediate messages across mailboxes
Considerations
If your biggest risk is account takeover and data access after compromise, you’ll want to confirm how deeply the product correlates mailbox behavior, identity signals, and sensitive data exposure (not just message-level filtering).
Final Thoughts
Barracuda Email Protection is a cloud suite that layers spam/malware defense, sandboxing, link protection, impersonation/BEC detection, and incident response for email threats.
Mimecast
Best For
Organizations that want a cloud-native secure email gateway with policy controls and broad protection for Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace environments.
What It Is
Mimecast’s Email Security Cloud Gateway is positioned as a cloud-native SEG to manage complex email environments and add protection beyond native email security.
Key Capabilities
- Secure email gateway approach with AI/ML-based detection
- Configurable policies / “granular controls” for managing email security programs
- Deployment options “with or without a gateway” (positioned as flexible)
Considerations
If you’re trying to reduce security team workload, validate automation depth: user-reported message handling, org-wide remediation speed, and how it handles post-delivery change.
Also validate how DMARC validation and tenant settings interact with your email stack—in some environments, DMARC-related interactions can drive higher false positive rates unless configuration is handled carefully.
Final Thoughts
Mimecast provides a cloud-native secure email gateway focused on protecting Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace with AI-powered detection and flexible deployment options, but day-2 operations (especially tuning/false positives and DMARC interactions) should be tested in your environment.
Avanan (Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration)
Best For
Cloud-first teams that want API-based email security with unified quarantine and collaboration app coverage under the Check Point platform.
What It Is
Avanan is commonly sold as Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, which Check Point describes as cloud-first email security with features like unified quarantine and DMARC monitoring under its broader platform.
Key Capabilities
- Unified quarantine: single place to view/restore quarantined emails (including native and vendor quarantine)
- DMARC monitoring called out as a capability for brand protection and impersonation defense
- User-reporting workflow integrations (e.g., Gmail “Report phishing” support described by Check Point)
Considerations
Harmony can be a strong fit if you already standardize on Check Point. If not, confirm integration depth and operational ergonomics for your stack.
Final Thoughts
Avanan (Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration) is a cloud-first email security product with unified quarantine, DMARC monitoring, and user-reported phishing workflow integrations.
GreatHorn
Best For
Teams that want layered, cloud-native email security with a strong emphasis on user engagement and “human layer” defenses.
What It Is
GreatHorn positions itself as a cloud-native platform combining phishing detection, user engagement, and incident response.
Key Capabilities
- Layered phishing protection and incident response positioning
- “Mailbox Intelligence” positioning that emphasizes giving end users meaningful context to make better decisions
Considerations
If you need deep controls for post-compromise containment (ATO and sensitive data access constraints), validate how far it goes beyond user-facing context and standard remediation.
Final Thoughts
GreatHorn is a cloud-native email security platform that layers phishing detection with user engagement and incident response to reduce risk and improve outcomes.
Abnormal Security
Best For
Teams that prioritize behavioral detection for socially-engineered attacks (BEC/vendor fraud) and want API-based deployment with automation.
What It Is
Abnormal describes an API-integrated platform that builds behavioral models to detect anomalies and automate remediation for modern, socially engineered email threats.
Key Capabilities
- Behavioral modeling to detect targeted BEC/phishing by analyzing many behavioral signals
- “One-click API integrations” for cloud email platforms
- Automation focus: auto-detection and remediation to reduce triage workload
Considerations
If your requirements include message-level access controls and data protection inside the mailbox after compromise, confirm what controls exist beyond detection/removal.
Also validate user transparency when the platform automatically removes/pulls messages—some teams report that when messages are removed automatically, end users may not clearly see what was pulled, which can increase the review burden on security/IT to catch false positives quickly.
Final Thoughts
Abnormal is an API-based cloud email security platform focused on behavioral AI detection of socially engineered attacks with automated remediation and fast deployment—but it’s worth validating how “auto-pull” workflows are communicated to users and managed day-to-day.