Item: Proofpoint Email Protection
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Proofpoint Email Protection to protect our own Mailtraffic, but as an MSSP (Managed Security Service Provider), our main goal is to resell it to our customers as a managed Service. We run a lot of PPS Gateways in our Datacenters. Proofpoint Email Protection aims to be a carefree solution for every administrator, as far as it's possible. I don't want to sell (you) anything. I am a technician, not a sales guy. Therefore, I'm going to write this review from a technical Point-of-View.

Pros and Cons

Best Spam protection (honestly!).
Extremely flexible.
Fast support from the vendor.

Expensive (but justified).
Needs a lot of hardware resources in big environments (RAM hungry).
Using old Linux kernel 2.6.32 (CentOS 6.5, still supported though).

Return on Investment

Preventing Phishing attacks.
No dealing with Spam mails (which saves a LOT of time).
Less support requests from Endusers, since they can manage potential false-positives by themselves via "Spam-Digests Mails."

Alternatives Considered

Before we used Proofpoint Email Protection, we ran McAfee Secure Email Gateway, but that product was EOL in 2015, so we looked for a new security solution. We compared these:

- Proofpoint (PPS)

- Clearswift SEG

- TRITON AP-EMAIL (Websense)

- Cisco ESA

Clearswift had no Sandboxing at that time. Cisco is disliked by our CEO. So there were only Triton and Proofpoint left. We work a lot with Palo Alto Networks Firewalls, and since Proofpoint has a partnership with PAN, we decided to use Proofpoint Email Protection. Because of that, we can now double profit from Proofpoint's and Palo Alto's cloud protection (TAP Sandbox and Wildfire).

Other Software Used

Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series, Palo Alto Networks Traps, Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering PAN-DB, Palo Alto Networks Threat Protection, Palo Alto Networks WildFire, KeePass, Wireshark

Likelihood to Recommend

Proofpoint is always suited. If you are able to afford it, you should do it. Proofpoint Email Security is extremely flexible, so you can cover almost any scenario and create rules for every need. There are so many criteria/conditions which can be used to build custom rules. In all the years I have used Proofpoint Email Protection Server, I've rarely reached it's limits. And in that case, you can make a Request for Enhancement. Most attacks are done via Email. Everyone should aim to have maximum security. Proofpoint has a lot of techniques to achieve that, even if you don't use SPF/DKIM/DMARC. You can also use PPS to secure your Office 365, by the way.

Make your mailflow safe, don't gamble with security!

Overall Satisfaction with Proofpoint Email Protection