Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense Reviews

Name: Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense
Brand: Cisco
Rating: 4.0 (15 reviews)

Vendor: Cisco

4.0 out of 5

15 reviews
93% willing to recommend

What is Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense?

Cisco's secure email threat defense is designed to provide comprehensive protection against email-based threats. With the increasing sophistication of cyber attacks, it is crucial for organizations to have a robust solution in place to safeguard their email communications.

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Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is the #26 ranked solution in top Email Security solutions. PeerSpot users give Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense an average rating of 8.0 out of 10. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is most commonly compared to Microsoft Defender for Office 365: Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 54% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a computer software company, accounting for 24% of all views.

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

August 2025

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Featured Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense reviews

Enrique-Diaz Jolly

Principal Consulting Engineer, Founder, Own at Jolly Security Inc

I use the email gateway as the core of the email exchange between the Internet and our domain. The email gateway serves as the email exchanger The product offers protection, email security, anti-spam, and antivirus. It includes threat intelligence with advanced malware protection and many…

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Karthik Venkataraman

Senior Consultant at Velocis Systems

Currently, the ease of deployment is the low-hanging fruit for Cisco email security. It's good to deploy and then easy to use, and the GUI is understandable. Simply having email knowledge is more than enough to plug and play into this particular product. I'd rate it ten out of ten.

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Mike Bulyk

IT Security Director at Athletic & Therapeutic Institute of Naperville, LLC

The ability to see east-west traffic is its most valuable feature. Traditionally, email defense focuses on north-south, inbound-outbound, egress-ingress traffic. With Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, it's able to quickly identify, track, tag, and categorize emails that are internal. That can typically give us visibility into if there's an internal compromised account (for example). Someone can then use that internal compromised account to email additional accounts with either malicious software or links, but internal within that Office tenant. Effectively, that email message never leaves the tenant. Any of the mail gateways really do not have any method or way of seeing this traffic since it's not leaving the environment. The solution is very easy to use. It's just a single pane of glass, single screen web page that you access. Then, there are a small number of clicks necessary to get at the information you need. Reporting is easily generated. Likewise, the search capability is easily accessed and usable as well as provides the first initial information that you need about messages identified, categorized, and total volumes. All that information is easily identifiable and quickly accessible as soon as you log in. It is an easy to use, single web page, SaaS application. Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox’s user interface is intuitive. We didn't need any training. There was a quick deployment document that you skim through, and it's fairly easy to both deploy as well as start using. Threat Grid is a capability which allows for running or executing software in a special sandbox environment where it's not affecting your enterprise or corporate systems. For that particular use case, Threat Grid works really well. It also ties in with various threat intelligence sources, e.g., detonating/testing our particular software or file in the sandbox can immediately identify indicators of compromise and share them with other clients that leverage Threat Grid. Likewise, the software that I uploaded for sandboxing is immediately validated and checked against all other client submissions as well as open source and Cisco Talos Threat Intelligence Sources. I find that really valuable. While there are other sandboxing solutions out there, I use Threat Grid quite a bit and I find it to be extremely useful and very usable. Threat Grid also gives us a sense of safety because I don't have to test it or build out custom virtual machines to do the testing. I don't have to test it on enterprise systems. From that perspective, Threat Grid is definitely a very good solution. Its ability to integrate with other Cisco portfolio tools is helpful because then you can tie in and quickly view what malicious files might've been found in your environment regardless of what Cisco security solution you are using, whether it's AMP, Email Security, Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, or anything else. AMP for Endpoints is something that I've used extensively. We have also used AMP for Network and Email. Collectively, it seems to be doing a pretty good job, especially when combined with Threat Grid because it's quickly able to identify files by hashing them and figuring out within the databases that Cisco owns, as well as open source threat intelligence databases, whether that particular hash is found in those databases. If it is, then it is malicious. It takes corresponding action pretty quickly. If it's an unknown hash (after it identifies the file by hash value), and if it's unknown and not found in the databases, then it automatically uploads that file to Threat Grid for sandboxing and analysis. That layered approach with respect to treating the files as they come in works well, whether via email, network, or found on an endpoint, especially as an ecosystem solution that integrates with other Cisco components and security tooling that one may have in the enterprise. This works well because the information found on a single endpoint, for example, can then immediately take action on an email by blocking that identified malicious file. Likewise, if there is a file that's coming in via email and it's found to be malicious by AMP or Threat Grid, then the information about that file is immediately known by the endpoints. The endpoint solution can then take action on that malicious file. As an ecosystem, it works really well.

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Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense mindshare

As of August 2025, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense in the Email Security category stands at 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Security

PeerResearch reports based on Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense reviews

Type	Title	Date
Category	Email Security	Aug 24, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Aug 24, 2025	Download
Comparison	Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365	Aug 24, 2025	Download
Comparison	Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs Proofpoint Email Protection	Aug 24, 2025	Download
Comparison	Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs Abnormal Security	Aug 24, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Microsoft Defender for Office 365	4.2	12.1%	96%	53 interviews Add to research
Proofpoint Email Protection	4.2	8.5%	95%	52 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense offers valuable features like east-west email traffic visibility, seamless integration with Cisco's threat intelligence, and advanced malware protection with Threat Grid. Users find the platform intuitive and user-friendly without needing extensive training. Its robust spam filtering, comprehensive threat mechanisms through Talos, and anti-spam capabilities are highly effective. Although analytics and reporting need improvement, its flexible graymail user management and behavioral analysis provide enhanced security against evolving threats.

"Regarding stability, Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is very stable."
"I highly recommend it as one of the best choices."
"The product offers protection, email security, anti-spam, and antivirus."

Room for Improvement

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense could improve integration with more tools and platforms, as well as enhance context and reporting accessibility. Search functionality and false positives require refinement. The need for better behavioral analysis, threat identification, and advanced phishing features is apparent. Modernization of controls and customization of features should be prioritized alongside a more streamlined management system. Considerations for a lower price, monthly billing, and faster support are also recommended.

"The product's complexity at times results in redundant rule sets that are difficult to untangle, highlighting the need for streamlined management systems and a more user-centric approach to system configuration."
"The behavioral analysis capability of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is not particularly helpful for identifying new, evolving threats within my company, as it keeps flagging legitimate emails as malicious."
"The physical appliance has been discontinued, although the platform still exists."

ROI

Users reported significant cost savings and increased productivity due to the effective protection against email threats. The solution was praised for its ability to prevent phishing attacks, malware infections, and data breaches, resulting in improved security and reduced financial losses.

Additionally, users appreciated the ease of use and seamless integration with existing email systems, which further enhanced the overall return on investment.

Pricing

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense pricing is considered high compared to competitors like Proofpoint, Sophos, and Trend Micro. It is generally based on the number of user mailboxes and comes with additional support costs. While customers acknowledge its premium pricing, they justify it due to the robust feature set and Cisco's comprehensive support. Organizations using a fully Cisco setup find value, but others might find it more cost-effective to integrate Microsoft 365 and additional tools.

"The solution’s pricing is manageable."
"It is expensive compared to other vendors."
"Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox does not have any competition with Sophos, Trend Micro, or other vendors of the world. However, there is a pricing premium for the solution. One has to look at it from that angle that while they are buying Cisco, there will be a premium, and Cisco justifies that premium value. That's why they're charging a high price."

Popular Use Cases

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense primarily serves as a gateway for email traffic, offering email protection and security against threats like business email compromise and phishing. It detects malicious content, provides fast remediation times, and ensures email integrity. Users leverage it alongside Microsoft 365 for an extra layer of defense, focusing on spam filtering, malware detection, compliance, and email management. Organizations deploy it in the cloud, either privately or publicly, for enhanced email security.

Service and Support

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense users often praise its customer service and support. Technical assistance is described as responsive and helpful, with quick query responses. Although some encountered issues like false positives, users found support effective in resolving them. Many appreciate the ease of implementation, rarely needing further aid. The support quality is highly rated, with scores between six and nine out of ten. The infrastructure and service coverage, especially in regions like India and Singapore, are appreciated.

Deployment

Users describe Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense's initial setup as easy and simple. They note that deployments can take as little as five minutes to a day. Most agree the process is straightforward if permissions are in place, although some mention concerns about needing extensive rights. While some face challenges based on deployment size and approach, many find it manageable if adequately trained, adaptable, and understanding both infrastructure and mail system operations.

Scalability

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense demonstrates strong scalability for both large and small organizations. Users note its ease of scaling as a cloud-based service, effectively accommodating increased mailboxes and users. Despite occasional complexities with adding new signatures, the service efficiently handles large numbers of emails and provides consistent scalability across isolated servers. The capability for adjustment according to demand and its secure infrastructure contribute positively to its scalable performance.

Stability

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense exhibits remarkable stability according to multiple sources. It operates reliably with no recurring issues or dedicated maintenance needs. Users consistently find it dependable, noting the absence of bugs, glitches, or performance disruptions. The service performs as expected without crashes or freezes, maintaining robust operational performance. It has yet to cause concern for users, and its performance stability rates high, addressing evolving customer requirements effectively.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

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Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

24%

Healthcare Company

Manufacturing Company

Government

Media Company

Performing Arts

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

Construction Company

Non Profit

University

Insurance Company

Educational Organization

Pharma/Biotech Company

Retailer

Logistics Company

Outsourcing Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

Energy/Utilities Company

Marketing Services Firm

Consumer Goods Company

Legal Firm

Religious Institution

Transportation Company

Compare Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense with alternative products

Learn more about Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

The product offers advanced threat detection capabilities, leveraging machine learning algorithms and real-time analysis to identify and block malicious emails. It scans incoming and outgoing emails for suspicious attachments, links, and content, ensuring that only safe and legitimate emails reach the users' inbox.

To combat phishing attacks, our solution employs advanced anti-phishing techniques, including URL reputation analysis and email header analysis. It proactively detects and blocks phishing emails, preventing users from falling victim to fraudulent schemes and protecting sensitive information.

The Secure Email Threat Defense also includes robust anti-malware and anti-spam features. It scans email attachments for malware and viruses, preventing them from infiltrating the organization's network. Additionally, it filters out spam emails, reducing the clutter in users' inboxes and improving productivity.

Administrators have full visibility and control over email security. They can set up customizable policies to enforce security measures, such as blocking specific file types or restricting email access from certain domains. Detailed reports and analytics provide insights into email threats and help in fine-tuning the security settings.

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense was previously known as Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, Cisco CMD, Cisco Cloud Mailbox Defense.