If you are seeking to address increasing levels of spam that is being sent to your network and prevent attacks that seek to harm your organization using phishing, malware and ransomware then you should implement cloud email security as soon as possible.
These solutions can vary greatly in terms of success and you should aim for the cloud email security solution with the high spam detection rate possible. It may not seem like there is a huge difference in a solution that boasts a 97% spam detection rate and one that claims to spot 99%. However the reality of this is quite revealing when you consider that the lower rate will result in an organization that records 1,000 spam emails per day and will have 200 additional emails remain undetected on a daily basis.
Variance in Cloud Spam Detection Rates Explained
Not all cloud spam services are the same. Each solution can record different spam detection rates based on the different tactics that they use to spot spam emails and attempted cyber attacks. The majority of solutions implementURIBL and SUBRL filters that see if the IP addresses of inbound emails are included on blacklists of recognized sources of spam attacks. In addition to this some include recipient verification protocols and Sender Policy Frameworks so that they can identify emails that are being sent to non-existent mailboxes as well as emails that have been spoofed.
In most cases an element of “machine learning” is included so that the solution can add spam ratings to emails. These are calculated using the content and composition of the email received. There are a few different names for this method including Bayesian Analysis, Neural Networks and Adaptive Spam Filtering. Network Manager can alter acceptable spam thresholds using the success of these tests as a gauge for the strength of the test required.
The absolute strongest, and most effective, cloud spam solutions using a process that is referred to as greylisting. Greylisting stops emails from previously unseen sources of cyberattacks infiltrating your spam filters. It does so through rejecting all emails and issuing a resend request. Typically, this request will not be seen by a spam server administrator and they will be 100% focused on sharing new spam mails. Greylisting has resulted in spam detection rates as high as 99.9%. In order to stop important business emails being returned certain domains and seners can be whitelisted for correspondence from trusted senders.
Two-Way Cloud-Based Email Security
Smart companies use a two-way cloud-based email security solution so that they may review all inbound and outbound email messages. The aim of scanning outbound emails is to spot email accounts that could have been infiltrated by hackers in order to share malware loaded messages to your trusted business contacts. If something like this were to happen it would seriously damage the strong reputation you have worked so hard to build up and, in a worst case scenario, could result in company IP addresses and domains being blacklisted by global spam directories. This would make it very difficult for you to effectively conduct business via email.
