Hosted email security is most often a cloud-based email filtering service provided by an established online security company. The reason why many businesses choose to use hosted email security software is to take advantage of its advanced features in order to increase spam detection rates and limit the number of phishing emails entering the network, as well as those harboring malware and ransomware.
Cloud-based email filtering services are low maintenance solutions, with software updates being performed by the company providing the service. They also have the advantages of being universally compatible with every operating system, infinitely scalable and cost-effective – requiring no hardware purchases or software installations, and being supported by the service provider´s technical team.
How Hosting Email Security Works
To better protect their networks against spam email, businesses create an account with a service provider, add their domain and a domain administrator, and then connect to the service provider´s servers by redirecting their MX records. Thereafter, all incoming emails pass through the service provider´s servers, and are filtered according to policies created by the domain administrator.
User policies can be imported from existing directory tools or created and amended as required. Domain administrators can apply different acceptable spam thresholds by user, group, domain or business-wide via a centralized management portal (a default threshold is applied until this is done), and schedule reports to be sent to each user when mail is quarantined by the hosted email security software.
Thereafter, domain administrators can easily monitor the volumes of spam emails being detected, tagged, quarantined and rejected in real time via the management portal or historically via a suite of customizable reports. These reports can help business with reviewing their online security and compiling risk assessments if the business operates within a regulated industry.
Hosted Email Security Software with Greylisting
Not all hosted email security software is the same. Although most use Real Time Blacklists and SURBL filters to block emails from known sources of spam, those with higher spam detection rates use a process known as greylisting to help identify emails from previously unknown sources of spam. Greylisting can delay the delivery of emails to users, but the benefits can be substantial.
Research has shown the average spam detection rate for the top ten email filtering services without greylisting is 96.86%. Even with this high spam detection rate, an office-based employee will receive an average of twelve spam emails per day. By comparison, hosted email security software with greylisting detects 99% of spam email – reducing the number of spam emails received to a daily average of four.
The time spent by a single office-based employee identifying and deleting eight spam emails per day may not be very long. But, multiply that time by thousands of employees, and over the course of a year a business can save tens of thousands of dollars in lost productivity as well as reduce the number of potential threats entering the mail network by 67% – usually for no additional cost.
Hosted Email Security from SpamTitan
SpamTitan has been producing online security products since 1999. In nearly two decades, thousands of businesses across the world have used our services to mitigate web-borne and email-borne threats, and enhance productivity in the workplace. Our hosted email security software has achieved spam detection rates of 99.97% in numerous tests with no or minimal false positives.
SpamTitan´s hosted email security software includes greylisting among a number of front-end tests to maximize spam detection. Our software scans both inbound and outbound mail for malware in order to provide an extra layer of security and prevent the potential IP blacklisting. Multiple web authentication settings and recipient verification types provide domain administrators with flexibility over how they wish to apply the software´s parameters, plus SpamTitan is available in a choice of deployment options.
In addition to providing a cloud-hosted service, SpamTitan offers business´s a Gateway on-premises email filtering service that can be installed seamlessly into a physical or virtual infrastructure. We also offer a cluster option, and the possibility for SpamTitan´s hosted email security software to be hosted in a private cloud – an ideal solution for Managed Service Providers.
To find out more, contact one of our security experts today. Our team will be happy to answer any questions you have, help determine which format of hosted email security would best suit your needs and invite you to take a free trial of SpamTitan so you can evaluate the merits of our hosted email security software in your own environment.
FAQs
Does a hosted email filtering service include antivirus protection?
A hosted email filtering service should include antivirus protection – but in some cases, AV protection is an additional extra. SpamTitan has dual antivirus engines as standard (Bitdefender and Clam AV) that check all attachments for malware and malicious scripts. In addition, SpamTitan uses sandboxing to provide extra protection against malware. If an attachment passes the AV controls, it is sent to the sandbox for in-depth analysis.
Can hosted email filtering be used to Improve the Microsoft 365 spam filter?
Hosted email filtering can be used to improve the Microsoft 365 spam filter. Microsoft 365 includes Exchange Online Protection (EOP) as standard, but it only has a basic set of spam filtering mechanisms. SpamTitan Cloud is a hosted email filtering service that works seamlessly with Microsoft 365 to improve malicious email detection for Office 365 mailboxes.
Is hosted email protection better than on-premises email security solutions?
Hosted email protection is often better than on-premises email security solutions because of the security, flexibility, and scalability of the cloud. However, hosted email protection is not suitable for every type of business. Therefore, TitanHQ offers spam filtering solutions with multiple deployment options. The level of protection provided by those solutions is the same, but the on-premises email security gateway – deployed as a virtual appliance – better meets the needs of some businesses.
Are hosted email security services expensive?
Hosted email security services are not expensive when compared to the cost (and maintenance overheads) of an on-premises solution or the cost of a cyberattack. Additionally, hosted email security services are more flexible than on-premises solutions, enabling businesses to scale up or scale down the number of mailboxes that are protected as their requirements change.
To what extent is hosted email security managed by the provider?
The extent to which hosted email security is managed by the provider is that the service provider performs all updates, so the solution does not add to the patching burden of the IT security team. AV engines and threat intelligence feeds keep the solution constantly up to date, and when new versions of the solution are released, they are applied automatically.
Why do businesses choose hosted email security software?
Businesses choose hosted email security software to leverage the security, flexibility, and scalability of the cloud. Because they can be updated in real time, the capabilities of hosted email security software are often ahead of on-premises solutions, and consequently hosted email filters tend to have advanced features first, better spam detection rates, and fewer threats from phishing, malware, and ransomware emails.
What are the benefits of cloud-based email filtering services?
The benefits of cloud-based email filtering services can vary from business to business because businesses have different priorities. The most common benefits include minimal maintenance, compatibility with existing systems, infinite scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Cloud-based email services eliminate the need for on-premises hardware and software installations, updates, and patches, and come with technical support from the service provider.
How do businesses start using hosted email security services?
Businesses start using hosted email security services by creating an account with a service provider and selecting a subscription option. Thereafter, all that is required to use the hosted email security service is to redirect the mail exchange to point towards the service provider’s service. This ensures incoming emails are filtered through the provider’s servers before entering the business’s network.
What tools can domain administrators use to manage spam thresholds?
The tools most often used by domain administrators to manage spam thresholds are in the Anti-Spam Engine policy – specifically the Domain Policies section. Here, a domain administrator can increase or decrease the spam threshold and determine what happens to emails that exceed the spam threshold (rejected, quarantined, or delivered to the recipient with a warning).
How can businesses monitor their hosted email security’s effectiveness?
Businesses can monitor their hosted email security’s effectiveness via a library of built-in and customizable reports available via the online management portal. These reports detail how many spam emails have been identified and either rejected, quarantined, or delivered to the recipient with a warning. Reports can be scheduled or produced on demand, and drilled into to show the email security’s effectiveness by time, user, or domain.