MSP Spam Filtering Services

Protecting email environments from the increasing number of threats delivered via email can be a challenge, which is why many organizations outsource email security and use MSP spam filtering services.

Email Security is a Key Part of Compliance

You must ensure that the personally identifiable information of your employees and customers is protected at all times to meet your compliance obligations. A great deal of sensitive information is stored in email accounts, so appropriate safeguards must be implemented to prevent unauthorized access. A considerable amount of sensitive data is stored in email accounts and nowhere else. If an email account is compromised, that information could be easily stolen or lost.

Email is the most common vector used in cyberattacks to gain initial access to business networks. Malware is most commonly delivered via email, phishing emails are the most common way for ransomware gangs to gain access to business networks, and phishing attacks are the leading cause of data breaches.

Blocking these email-based attacks is becoming more difficult due to the increasing number and sophistication of attacks. While organizations can implement a range of cybersecurity measures to protect their email environments, managing those solutions and identifying and blocking threats is time-consuming and difficult if you don’t have staff with the right skill sets, which is why the demand for MSP spam filtering services is growing. Outsourcing email security is often more cost-effective than managing these security functions in-house, especially with the current shortage of cybersecurity professionals.

According to the U.S. cybersecurity and data security company Datto, managed security services are one of the biggest areas of growth for MSPs, and demand for their services has increased sharply over the past 3 years. During the pandemic, there was a major increase in phishing attacks and organizations struggled to block these threats with a largely remote workforce. With resources stretched, demand for MSP spam filtering services grew. MSPs have traditionally provided managed IT services rather than managed security, but Datto reports that 99% of MSPs have added managed security services to their services, with 82% saying they offer MSP spam filtering services.

Benefits of MSP Spam Filtering Services

MSP spam filtering solutions are typically cloud-based so require no on-site hardware. These solutions act as a filter for all inbound and outbound emails and separate legitimate business emails from illegitimate communications such as unsolicited marketing emails and other spam messages, scam and phishing emails, and emails containing malicious code that installs malware. These services often include data loss protection can identify and block sensitive information from being sent to external email addresses and can include email encryption to protect sensitive data from being intercepted in transit. Outbound email filtering can identify compromised mailboxes that are being used for sending spam and phishing emails, ensuring prompt action can be taken to limit the harm caused.

Organizations can implement their own spam filters; however, these solutions require proper management and considerable resources will need to be committed to managing your email security defenses. With MSP spam filtering services, the email system will be monitored for malicious messages that bypass the spam filter. Having an MSP managing your email and monitoring for threats will give you peace of mind that if threats do breach your defenses, they will be identified and remediated quickly.

By outsourcing spam filtering to MSPs, organizations can:

• Improve employee productivity
• Eliminate the burden of protecting against email attacks
• Avoid the high costs of hiring skilled cybersecurity professionals
• Reduce compliance risk
• Prevent data exposure and loss
• Detect email account compromises and remediate email security incidents quickly
• Protect against phishing, malware, and business email compromise attacks