- Facility of management
- Documentation
Head of Department IT Security & Network at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
We're now protected against spam emails. The CLI needs to be improved.
What is most valuable?
How has it helped my organization?
We're now protected against spam emails.
What needs improvement?
We use the CLI for management, but it's not very good. It's based on Java and it's very difficult to use.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
We've had no issues with deployment.
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Secure Email
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about Cisco Secure Email. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
846,617 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's very stable. We've had no issues with instability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability has been OK.
How was the initial setup?
We had to configure it, but it wasn't complex.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Network Administrator at a tech services company
We use it to receive, send, scan, and filter our incoming and outgoing email
Pros and Cons
- "The system enables end users to manage their own whitelists/blacklists."
- "The system provides our service desk with the means to troubleshoot email delivery issues with ease."
- "Administration of the email domains and custom filters are easily done via the web interface."
- "The user interface could be updated."
- "Better dashboards and more interactive overviews would be nice, but the current functionality is sufficient."
What is our primary use case?
The Cisco Email Security Appliance is being used as the primary email gateway for our datacenter. We use the Cisco Email Security Appliance to receive, send, scan, and filter our incoming and outgoing email.
We use the Talos Threat intelligence to filter out known 'bad' email sender. The Sophos Antivirus plugin for antivirus scanning and the DKIM signing for our outgoing mails.
How has it helped my organization?
The system enables end users to manage their own whitelists/blacklists and provides our service desk with the means to troubleshoot email delivery issues with ease.
What is most valuable?
On-box DKIM and DMARC features let us secure our email flows and reduce the risk of our domains being used for spamming.
Administration of the email domains and custom filters are easily done via the web interface.
What needs improvement?
The user interface could be updated. Better dashboards and more interactive overviews would be nice, but the current functionality is sufficient.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
The Cisco Email Security Appliance has enabled us to reduce spam by at least 30% compared to our previous solution.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Secure Email
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about Cisco Secure Email. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
846,617 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Owner at Jolly Security Inc
Protects our customers with URL and Reputation Filtering
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are Advanced Malware Protection, URL filtering, and of course Reputation Filtering."
- "The reporting functionality needs to be improved."
What is our primary use case?
I have experience as an SE for IronPort as well as a private consultant. I have used this solution in multiple environments.
How has it helped my organization?
I have been able to help customers improve their email security, both new customers purchasing Cisco Secure Email Gateway, as well as long-time users.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are Advanced Malware Protection, URL filtering, and of course Reputation Filtering.
What needs improvement?
The reporting functionality needs to be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Email Security for nearly 15 years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Manager of Infrastructure at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Solid 1U appliance, but we had problems with the XML file rule not working
Valuable Features:
We chose Cisco Iron Port as it delivers strong email security protection and our company needed it to protect the company's email systems from spam, email viruses, .exe files, unwanted email from unwanted sender etc. For this, we choose Cisco Iron Port c160.
Cisco Iron Port is a solid 1U appliance, no need for additional hardware, easy to plug into existing network. Email channel protection worked across the board without regard for which email client we used. When Cisco engineers became aware of the XML file rule not working as designed they immediately recorded this in their internal issues database and provided us with an issue ID. More significantly, they quickly supplied a workaround that allowed us to block XML files using a different type of rule.
Room for Improvement:
More than a few steps are required to apply rules and these are not essentially intuitive. Even though we were able to get real-time event information from the email logs, it would be nice if the higher-level journalism tools could synchronize more quickly. Price might be an obstacle for smaller networks. Need to reduce the price so that small organizations can use this product.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Network Engineer at a university with 51-200 employees
Cisco IronPort is a powerful device that adds more to traditional Cisco NAC appliances the capability to defend against application and operating system attacks
Valuable Features:
Our company was facing a problem of user complaints with network performance despite the fact that we used Cisco ASA and Cisco IPS. When we scanned the mail server with antivirus we found a lot of threats that couldn't be treated, so we need to use IronPort. Cisco IronPort mail security was very helpful by blocking threats, viruses, worms and Trojans from attacking the mail accounts and user PCs.
Room for Improvement:
-Added cost and delay to the network traffic, but performance did remain stable.
-Requires knowledge and operation time to manage an added security device to the network devices besides IPS and ASA.
Other Advice:
Cisco IronPort is Cisco's new network access controller (NAC). Cisco IronPort email and web security products are used online with the firewall Cisco ASA and Cisco IPS to filter attacks, threats, phishing and data loss.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Administrator at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Simple to add to our network and efficient to troubleshoot
Valuable Features:
• Cost-effective since they do not require extra hardware
• They are simple to plug into the available network
• Protection of mail channel works well regardless of the email client used
• Efficient to troubleshoot
Room for Improvement:
• Requires several actions to employ rules
• It takes time to harmonize information from the email log events with higher level reporting tools
Other Advice:
Security risks presented by web-based malware, spyware and web traffic exposes organizations to compliance and productivity dangers introduced by improper usage of the web within the organization. IronPort allows visibility into the problem and an easy way to pinpoint policy offenders. It includes a user friendly interface and easy content incorporation, filtering and reporting infrastructure.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user386826Distribution Systems Analyst at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
I would not suggest Cisco Ironport to anyone, just installed a 40mb circuit and it's not going well pings to 108.171.131.161 are just sad. We are reviewing the configuration but overall it is just a waste of our time and money. I'm not impressed at all...

Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cisco Secure Email Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2025
Popular Comparisons
Microsoft Defender for Office 365
Darktrace
Proofpoint Email Protection
Cloudflare One
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP)
Fortinet FortiMail
Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration
Abnormal Security
Trend Micro Email Security
Sophos Email
TitanHQ SpamTitan
IRONSCALES
Perception Point Advanced Email Security
Barracuda Email Protection
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cisco Secure Email Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- Which Email Security enterprise solution would you choose: Cisco Secure Email vs Forcepoint Email Security vs Barracuda Email Security Gateway?
- What are the threats associated with using ‘bogus’ cybersecurity tools?
- When evaluating Messaging Security, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
- Which Email Security enterprise solution would you choose: Cisco Secure Email vs Forcepoint Email Security vs Barracuda Email Security Gateway?
- What is the best email encryption software for small enterprises using Office 365?
- What security measures should businesses prioritize to support secure remote work?
- When evaluating Email Security tools, what aspects do you think are the most important to look for?
- Which is the best email security gateway?
- Why are Email Security tools important for companies?
- Why is Email Security important for companies?
FortiMail advantages:
no per user mailbox pricing;
three modes of deployment (Server mode--fully featured e-mail server & e-mail protection, Gateway mode-- e-mail protection and Transparent mode--No changes required to existing MX records and MUA/MTA configurations );
not need for third party antivirus licensing
higher spam detection percentage based tests and certifications by Global Third-Party Certification Authorities