Email continues to dominate the business communication arena. By the end of 2017, it’s projected that more than 132 billion emails will be sent and received. As the use of email increases, so do the number of risks. As with anything that involves the Internet, proper security protocols are a must in order to keep confidential and private business information protected.
One of the best ways to achieve email security is through a security service. Even the most secure email provider can be made that much more secure by using an email security service. Keep reading for tips for choosing the right service for your company.
Know Your Business’ Needs
We’re all too often guilty of going with the first product we come across without doing our due diligence. Before choosing an email security service, you’ll need to evaluate your needs. Setting needs and expectations will make the decision process much easier.
Are there any compliance or regulatory requirements that you have to account for? Do you need special protection for client and financial information? Do you want to go the traditional route of using physical servers or do you want to try using the cloud? Do you need a powerful online spam filtering service to protect from email-phishing? Make a list of all your serious concerns and sensitive online materials. From there, you should be able to tell if a company’s feature list meets your needs.
Research the Company
Once you’ve determine your wants and needs, you can then start the search for the right application. Not only do you want to find a provider that can account for all of your security needs, you also want one that has a solid reputation in the industry. Go with a company that has a history of security services.
Be sure to read customer testimonials to see what past customers say about the company. You may also want to check with the Better Business Bureau to ensure the company has no complaints against it. Low quality email security can leave your information vulnerable. Take the time to thoroughly research all of your options before choosing one.
Look for More Than the Basics
We all know the basics that go along with email security. The provider you choose should of course offer spam protection, scanning, filtering, anti-phishing, and anti-virus capabilities. As email-based threats continue to evolve and become more complex, you’ll want to choose a security provider that offers advanced capabilities. These include:
- Email encryption
- Signature-based techniques
- Sandboxing
- Threat intelligence
Having poor email security is just as dangerous as having no email security. The right email security provider should be using today’s best and most effective techniques to protect your company’s most valuable information.
Metrics Are Important
When you think of email security, you probably don’t immediately think of metrics. But, as with any business investment, you want to know that you’re getting a good return on investment. The security provider you choose should offer:
- Real-time reporting
- A variety of metrics-based reports
- Charts, graphs, and other visualizations of the metrics
These reports can be useful when it comes to renewing the contract for the next year or when you want to determine if you’re getting the best bang for your buck.
Think Scalability
If you’re like most business owners, you want your company to continuously grow. While you may have a small team right now, when choosing email security services, you want to ensure that the solution is scalable. This helps to ensure that months or even years from now, the provider you choose can still meet your security needs. The right company should be able to increase or decrease services, depending on your company’s needs. You’re most likely to find scalability in a cloud-based security.
Read the SLA
Service level agreements (SLA) are crafted to protect your company as well as the security provider. Before signing anything, be sure that you fully agree with the details outlined in the SLA, such as service restoration and response times. You ideally want a company that offers at least 99.9% uptime, otherwise your business emails may be left vulnerable when the service is down.
With the SLA, you can notate any discrepancies that may happen during an outage or during a time of slow performance. Be sure that you agree to everything in the SLA to have peace of mind that your business’ data gets the protection it needs.
Conclusion
Email attacks, including spear phishing and phishing, continue to result in business and data losses. In fact, dozens of attacks are successfully launched against businesses of all sizes each year. Protect your most valuable information by using an email security service. This layer of security will keep your communications safe and out of the hands of malicious actors. Do you worry about your email privacy? Leave us a comment in the section below.
