Information Security Research Library

Protecting messaging services (e.g., email, instant messaging, texting) is an important part of any business messaging strategy. Vulnerabilities abound when you allow messaging traffic for delivery over the Internet. Messaging system administrators are charged with preventing data leaks, warding off system attacks such as spam, and guarding against malicious programs. Messaging security tools provide protection against spam and phishing, malware (both embedded and as attachments), as well as provide privacy policy enforcement (e.g.,encryption for transport) to ensure compliance and data protection.

Choosing a solution requires looking at messaging security from two important aspects: the type of messaging security: perimeter security and message security; and the delivery of the service: on-premise or SaaS. The scope of this guide will focus on email security although many of these concepts will also apply to other types of messaging.