E-mail-Security checklist
When choosing an e-mail security strategy and e-mail security solutions for a company, the following criteria should always be taken into account:
1. The three pillars of e-mail security
Every e-mail security solution should include the following three components: an anti-spam solution, an anti-virus solution and an e-mail firewall.
2. Safeguarding business-related e-mail communication
Every e-mail security solution should safeguard the secure and reliable delivery of incoming and outgoing business-related e-mail communication in any situation, even in times of peak strain.
3. Seamless protection
Different components should be well coordinated to provide seamless protection and to exploit synergistic benefits. An example of this is the implementation of anti-spam technology for detecting virus outbreaks.
4. Zero False Positives
The most important and decisive criterion for spam filters is their ability to avoid losing individual or business-related e-mails. A good filter shouldn’t exceed a false positive rate of 0.0001 percent. A recognition rate of at least 99 percent is assumed.
5. Low strain on systems
E-mail security solutions should need little calculating capacity, operate at high speeds and guarantee a high mail processing rate.
6. Little administration work
A company’s IT department should not be spending more than an hour a week on administration, maintenance and updating.
7. Data protection
Every e-mail security solution should guarantee a maximum of data protection. This applies, for instance, to data being transmitted to external databases located with providers. Encoding should be available should the customer require it, for data transmission as well as for the inspection procedure itself, which ideally should not access the content of the e-mails being checked.