What is our primary use case?
Originally, Cisco Secure Email was primarily intended to combat spam. The day we installed it, we immediately noticed a significant difference. Since then, it has proven to be one of the best investments we have made in the fight against spam. However, its functionality has expanded beyond spam prevention. It now includes features such as Data Loss Prevention, quarantining of malicious attachments, compliance with workplace policies, and assistance in battling against phishing attempts.
How has it helped my organization?
From a security perspective, our organization is much stronger in the email domain. We have effectively monitored spam patterns, and with the rise of phishing in recent years, our capabilities have further improved. This has been beneficial for our organization since we can identify and prevent specific types of phishing emails.
We have the ability to customize certain aspects ourselves, which has also aided our organization. Additionally, relying solely on users to make secure decisions regarding phishing emails is not always reliable. Asking non-security personnel to make security-related choices can be risky. Therefore, Cisco Secure Email has been instrumental in relieving users of this responsibility. By implementing specific metrics and criteria, we can intercept and block such emails, allowing the system to handle the workload. Although the process requires some manual intervention on our part, it is acceptable considering our large user base of 9,000 individuals. Cisco Secure Email has played a crucial role in shouldering this burden and has greatly benefited our organization.
The effects of Cisco Talos on our security operations are really good. In the past, there was a philosophy that some security professionals used called defense in depth. It has two dimensions. One is implementing defense at the edge of our network, then progressing further inside the network, all the way to the desktop. We continue to implement security at different points, including the desktop, to ensure comprehensive coverage. Another interpretation of defense in depth is implementing security measures from different vendors. Each vendor has its own strengths, such as better virus scanning or more effective firewalls. By using a mix of vendors, we cover a wider range of potential threats and minimize vulnerabilities. However, I believe this approach is no longer necessary because of tools like Cisco Talos. Talos provides such extensive coverage that it quickly addresses new threats. We no longer need to worry about relying on multiple vendors to catch up. Cisco Talos has been great for our security.
It has significantly saved our IT staff a considerable amount of time. Without it, we would likely be dedicating four times the current amount of time to managing email and spam. Currently, one staff member spends five hours per week on this task. Without Cisco Secure Email, that number would increase to twenty hours per week, equivalent to one hundred hours per month. Thus, I estimate a time saving of around three hundred percent. Additionally, the absence of Cisco Secure Email would result in a three to four hundred percent increase in staffing requirements, as we currently have a team member solely responsible for managing the product on a daily basis. However, the time spent by this individual using the solution is far less than it would be if they were dealing with email issues without the solution. Thus, Cisco Secure Email has had an immense impact.
Cisco Secure Email helps us consolidate some tools. When we installed Cisco Secure Email, we had another email PMDF gateway that had extremely outdated capabilities for blocking things. It was ineffective. Cisco Secure Email surpassed our previous methods by leaps and bounds.
Cisco Secure Email has aided our organization in enhancing its cybersecurity resilience. Without Cisco Secure Email, our cybersecurity posture and resilience would be significantly compromised.
What is most valuable?
Spam controls are excellent because they are a powerful feature that operates almost effortlessly. Therefore, the device performs this function exceptionally well right from the start. That's what makes it one of the most powerful features. The entire center-based ecosystem functions as an app. It's a hands-off product, but it's a hands-on process in terms of spam control. The main action we take is whitelisting certain senders whom we trust. Apart from that, we adjust the sensitivity of our spam classification system to determine how aggressively the device identifies something as spam. We do this by sliding a slider or modifying a score, depending on our organization's willingness to accept the associated level of risk. This is essentially the extent of our involvement in spam control. Once configured, we allow the system to perform its job.
What needs improvement?
I have some frustrations with the user experience in the interface, specifically with regard to making a list of people for whom I want to allow email access. Let's say I have ten people, all of them being VIPs. I allow emails for them because they frequently communicate important information. However, working with these lists is quite challenging. It's difficult to rearrange or manipulate the entries once they are added to the list. The interface could definitely benefit from some improvements.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Secure Email for 15 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I purchased two gateways, one as a backup, but I have never had to use it. Cisco Secure Email is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The current hardware I have is a few years old. Just last week or two weeks ago, we received a large number of emails, and as a result, the device experienced some slowdown. Considering the scale of traffic and activity, I am encountering an issue with it. I acknowledge that the cloud is more efficient in handling such large platforms. I would say the scalability for on-premises systems could be improved, but it's also partly due to the fact that I am using an older chassis. I may have to consider moving to the cloud eventually because the service remains the same through the client portal in the cloud.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is amazing. I have some Palo Alto firewalls and some Cisco firewalls. Whenever I encounter a problem with Cisco, I call Cisco TAC, and their response is consistently fast. I always get connected with an engineer, and I never feel like I have to explain myself to a level-one technician. Sometimes we require a high level of expertise because we face complex issues, and Cisco TAC delivers that.
In contrast, my experience with Palo Alto and other vendors is different. We often start at level one, where we explain our problem to a junior or someone at a lower escalation level. Unfortunately, the message is sometimes lost in translation, or they struggle to grasp it. This creates a challenge as we try to escalate the issue through their support system to reach someone who can assist us effectively. It can be quite frustrating.
We don't encounter this friction with Cisco TAC and their escalation process. Our experiences with Cisco TAC have consistently been positive.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
I was not a security personnel at the time of deployment; however, I was the network personnel displaying an interest in security. Therefore, I was assigned the task of installing the email gateway. Technically, the setup was simple. I connected it to the network and redirected all emails to that gateway. Once this was done, the installation was complete.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Cisco Secure Email is expensive, but we get what we pay for. Many organizations consistently make this mistake—they don't want to invest in top-notch solutions. However, it is crucial to consider the cost of a breach. An organization could end up spending far more due to a breach caused by using an inferior solution, compared to the expense of implementing Cisco Secure Email. Personally, I am satisfied with the pricing because Cisco Secure Email is a superior solution.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Cisco Secure Email a ten out of ten. The solution performs effectively and accomplishes its intended purpose better than anything else I have encountered.
I do not subscribe to the Cisco Secure Email end-to-end model, but I have witnessed its effectiveness in action. It works exceptionally well for securing the infrastructure from end to end and aids in detecting and mitigating threats.
If an organization has the budget for Cisco Secure Email, I would not give another solution a second thought. We have been using this solution for 15 years and have not explored other options. Recently, we migrated our email to Exchange Online, but we chose to retain Cisco's defenses instead of relying on Microsoft's cloud Exchange Online Protection. We decided to stick with Cisco because I would have needed to replicate the policies from my Cisco investment in Microsoft, and I lack the resources to do so. Additionally, I wasn't confident in Microsoft's ability to match Cisco's performance in the security field at that time. I didn't observe the same level of quality in security and spam filtering with Microsoft. Cisco was setting the standard while Microsoft was still trying to catch up.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises