Barracuda Email Security Gateway and Cisco Secure Email are competing in the email security domain. Cisco Secure Email tends to have the upper hand due to its advanced threat protection and integration with Cisco's broader security ecosystem.
Features: Barracuda includes anomaly-based spam detection, LDAP and Active Directory integration, and effective inbound/outbound filtering capabilities. Its cloud-based features like email spooling and quarantine services enhance protection from phishing and spam. Cisco Secure Email offers advanced malware and URL filtering and integrates seamlessly with other Cisco security products, providing a robust defense against email threats.
Room for Improvement: Barracuda could improve technical support responsiveness, backup and recovery options, and more granular spam filtering. Meanwhile, Cisco could work on its interface usability, integration with cloud services, and simplifying licensing and configuration complexity.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both products support environments ranging from on-premises to hybrid cloud, offering deployment flexibility. Barracuda is praised for its technical support, but time zone issues arise. Cisco's support is seen as robust, but users note difficulties with licensing and configuration complexities.
Pricing and ROI: Barracuda is more budget-friendly and offers significant ROI by preventing security breaches, though regional pricing variations exist. Cisco's higher price tag is justified by its extensive features and integration abilities, with solid security measures that minimize long-term incident costs.
From the vendor, I would give the technical support an eight out of ten.
Cisco's tech support can be hit or miss, depending on the engineer you get.
The support is pretty decent, with a rating of eight out of ten.
The on-premises hardware is not very scalable, but switching to the SaaS offering is expected to improve scalability.
Based on my experience, the stability of Cisco Secure Email is very strong.
Sometimes there are false positive emails coming through, so they should improve further on detection technologies and techniques.
If it's considered a phishing email, it should be blocked for all users, not just some.
Some mails pass while others are dropped without any apparent logic, despite having the policy set for specific recipients or senders.
The solution should better analyze the actual content rather than only focusing on the email header or origin.
It would be beneficial to have the functionality of the Email Threat Defense integrated into the Email Security Gateway so customers don't have to buy two products for full email protection.
Compared with others, Barracuda Email Security Gateway is cheaper.
Its cost is bundled with other Cisco products.
The pricing structure is good as it is user-based or email client-based, which is positive for clients.
The licensing is a mess and needs sorting out.
The real-time threat intelligence feature is particularly useful as it detects all kinds of threats identified by incoming mails.
Whenever mail comes, the Barracuda gateway scans it and maintains advanced threat protection capability.
It is highly effective in catching phishing and spam emails.
It also possesses multiple modules for spam detection, malware detection, and threat intelligence, which are valuable in categorizing emails and determining actions.
It covers everything through email, like antivirus, IDS, and IPS.
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is a robust security solution that allows users to protect themselves from external threats as well as from potential data leaks. It can be managed and monitored from a centralized location. Users can efficiently and easily keep track of every aspect of their security suite all at one time. Customized protections can also be set up in a matter of minutes.
Benefits of Barracuda Email Security Gateway
Some of the benefits of using Barracuda Email Security Gateway include:
Reviews from Real Users
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is an email security tool that stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are the high level of flexibility that it gives to users and the solution’s powerful filtering feature. Barracuda Email Security Gateway offers users the ability to enact customizations that enable them to align the solution with their specific needs. It is highly flexible and allows for the completion of many different tasks. Additionally, it employs a powerful spam filter feature that gives users the ability to stop a large percentage of the threats to their devices before they get anywhere near their machines.
Mohammed N., the assistant general manager at CoLoCity Data Center, writes, “There are many customizable options:
The client has the option to blacklist or whitelist any email address or domain based on the sender and recipient filters. If they want, they can restrict any IP addresses so email won't be received from those IP addresses. Another interesting feature of Barracuda Email Security is the content filtering. If there is any word or sentence that we or our customers want to block, then we can add that thing in Barracuda Email Security Gateway. The content contained in the email will not be delivered or received by the recipient. Maximum customization options are available.”
Igor G., the information security officer and data protection officer at a manufacturing company, writes, “The spam filtering feature, in particular, is very important for us. We have a large volume of emails each month, something like 200,000, and Barracuda filters about 85 percent of the spam, malware, and phishing that comes in. It prevents our users from receiving this content on their computers.”
Cisco Secure Email ensures email traffic security, acting as a checkpoint before emails enter environments like Office 365. It filters out spam, phishing attempts, and malicious content, scanning emails for threats. It offers both inbound and outbound email security with features like URL filtering, spam filtering, and encryption.
Cisco Secure Email functions as an email gateway in cloud, on-premise, and hybrid deployments. Offering capabilities such as Advanced Malware Protection, URL and Reputation Filtering, and real-time threat intelligence from Talos, it efficiently safeguards email traffic. Detailed logging, reporting, and quarantine management features provide robust security while being highly configurable. Its integration with SecureX and customizable rules enhance its effectiveness. Though strong in malware protection, improvements in reporting, phishing detection, user-friendliness, and integration with Office 365 are areas of focus. Scalability, cost-effectiveness, and AI-driven features are also areas where it can advance.
What are the most important features of Cisco Secure Email?Cisco Secure Email integrates effectively in sectors like finance, healthcare, and education that need stringent data protection and compliance. Financial institutions favor it for its encryption and data leak protection features ensuring secure transactions. Healthcare organizations use it to adhere to compliance requirements like HIPAA, safeguarding patient data with advanced threat detection and email security. Educational institutions rely on it for protecting student data and intellectual property from phishing and malware attacks, ensuring a secure communication environment.
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