First email protection solution unveiled

By Justice Godfrey Okamgba

Sophos, a global leader in network and endpoint security, has announced the Sophos Email Advanced, the first email protection solution to offer predictive security with active threat protection (ATP), anti-phishing email authentication, and outbound scanning and policy support.

This is in a move geared towards curbing the risks of malware attacks in organisations after conducting a research that shows 75 percent of malwares remain unique to many organisations.

According to the firm, the only way to combat that is with the deep learning neural network that is integrated into the Sophos Email sandboxing technology to quickly identify never-before-seen malicious files sent in email.

“Email continues to be a primary attack vector for cybercriminals to launch a spear-phishing, local ized or ‘spray and pray’ campaign. Sophos processes data from more than ten million inboxes protected by Sophos Email every day.

“With the growth of cloud-based platforms such as Office365 and Google G-Suite, organizations need an advanced security solution that detects zero-day threats and advanced malware. Ransomware -As-A-Service (RaaS) and packaged malware kits have made it easier for cybercriminals to customize and deliver more complex, targeted attacks through email,” said Bill Lucchini, senior vice president and general manager, messaging security group at Sophos.

“IT needs smarter, predictive security to detect and stop today’s threats. Sophos central cloud-based management of Sophos Email Advanced can deliver the highest levels of protection to secure any email platform, allowing every user to trust their inbox again.”

Approximately 80 percent of the emails categorized as spam are found to have a malicious payload. As we’ve seen over the past few years, email is also the primary method used to spread ransomware.

In a note to business a.m., the firm said a recent study showed that more than 50 percent of organizations worldwide have suffered a ransomware attack in the last 12 months. Sophos Email Advanced includes CryptoGuard technology in the sandbox to stop ransomware before it makes it to your employee’s inboxes.

“Another primary defence against ransomware and phishing attacks is Time-of-Click protection, which scans the URL at the time of click, preventing stealthy and delayed attacks. Outbound scanning and multiple policy support can prevent a compromised organization from unintentionally forwarding malware or sending spam out to customers or partners, reducing the community impact of an attack and protecting an organization’s reputation. When managed through the Sophos Central management platform, Sophos Email is a key pillar of an integrated data protection system for the end user. IT professionals can manage Intercept X endpoint protection alongside Sophos Email Advanced and Phish Threat user awareness training, providing a stronger defence to detect and block threats, and train users against being the weakest link in their security strategy.

Threat data from Sophos Email Advanced can enhance Synchronized Security intelligence and contribute to the overall community intelligence within SophosLabs.