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Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Email Threat D...
Ranking in Email Security
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Hornetsecurity 365 Total Pr...
Ranking in Email Security
21st
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Office 365 Protection (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is 1.0%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection1.0%
Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense1.1%
Other97.9%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

NM
Enginner at Millennium Information Technologies
Has faced challenges with configuration, taking actions, and learning curve but benefits from centralized management and good technical support
We have deployed Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense in two customer environments. It is still in development as a new product. Some customer requirements, such as sending logs to a Syslog server, are limited as ETD only supports sending audit logs. Customers have requirements for other system logs as well, which should be developed from their side. Another customer request is to restrict the IPs that can log in, which cannot be done from Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense yet. Any user with login details can log in. We can restrict the IPs in Cloud Mail Gateways, but not from Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense. It would be beneficial to improve this feature. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense can take actions, such as requesting O365 to quarantine mail. In that case, the customer requires notification to the recipient from Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense. This option would be valuable if available. The real-time threat intelligence of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is an AI-based classification. It took one to two months to optimize the classification, but we still experience some false positives. Reducing the learning period would be beneficial. The learning curve shows that in the beginning, there are numerous false positives. For one month, we had to reclassify the false positives manually until the system learned. Reducing the learning time would be much better. Additional features desired in the next release include IP restrictions and user logging IP restrictions, ensuring only the customer environment can log in to Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense. Logs forwarding needs improvement as currently it only has audit logs. In Cloud Mail Gateway, we can create an IPsec tunnel to forward logs. However, in Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense, there is no option, and we must do API integration to send logs. Only SIM can get logs; Syslog cannot retrieve them.
HM
CEO at Cyber Internet Services (Pvt) Ltd.
Comprehensive email protection has secured sensitive communications and simplified threat management
Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is a good product right now, and the report is available in Spanish, which is beneficial for Latin Americans who speak Spanish. They can continue to improve the pricing because it is the most important aspect, as another solution is aggressive with a lower cost and includes everything. While Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is good right now, it would be better to improve the price. At the end, the client sees the price, and in Puerto Rico, the market is different than in the United States since here the client sees price independent of security. I have more effort to explain the difference between price versus technology, which is important because in Latin America, the price may not be the same as in the US due to the company's increase not being the same volume. When clients have many mailboxes, the price is more important than the technology. I do not know why, but this really happens.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution is stable."
"The advanced threat analytics and URL filtering in threat detection are good features that are working well."
"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."
"Secure Email Threat Defense's scalability is good."
"Regarding stability, Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is very stable."
"Currently, the ease of deployment is the low-hanging fruit for Cisco email security."
"Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox can handle a complete portfolio, which is required to protect any kind of attack coming from emails. However, it does not have advanced phishing, but it is available through Cisco. If you compare Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox with the competition, in the competition you have to have one or two solutions together to address the customer's requirement, whereas Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox is addressing everything, such as web domain and email protection. If there is any kind of challenge it will come across through email."
"I highly recommend it as one of the best choices."
"This service has allowed me to focus on my core environment and ensure the safety of my customer's data."
"Backup and restore are precious features."
"My advice for people considering using Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is that the simplicity is the best option because Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection includes everything in one platform and provides a 360-degree view."
"Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is an easy-to-use solution."
"I have a lot of control over spam and phishing emails."
"The best part is, I rarely have to access the portal as everything is set up and tweaked the way I wanted it. But the feature set is incredibly granular and allows for deep levels of customization."
 

Cons

"We encounter issues while searching for missing emails."
"There is still room for improvement in terms of integrations with other Cisco tools and non-Cisco tools. There is also some room for improvement needed in terms of the reporting."
"I wouldn't recommend Cisco to others because I think Fortinet is better."
"Cisco's multiple product lines and verticals made this just one of their many verticals, and we could see a shift in focus."
"The search area has room for improvement. When you go to the next page, it remains at the bottom of the current page that you're on. Also, under the reports section, it allows you to see any "convictions," but if you want to search for those convictions you have to remember when they all came in and go back and edit the search accordingly. You cannot click on the list of convictions to actually see if you had a spike at a certain time."
"From a technical point of view, Cisco is far behind in terms of cybersecurity, and it has to improve very much."
"This solution could be improved by integration with Sandbox."
"The physical appliance has been discontinued, although the platform still exists."
"I guess I would say maybe quick access to training material for end-users. I know partners have access to this but I as an end-user do not have immediate access to new update information."
"The pricing is a little high compared to other products."
"They can continue to improve the pricing because it is the most important aspect, as another solution is aggressive with a lower cost and includes everything."
"The solution’s pricing is not reasonable."
"A reduction of 10% in pricing can be an improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution’s pricing is manageable."
"The feedback from vendors and customer is that it is expensive."
"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."
"It is expensive compared to other vendors."
"The pricing is acceptable and falls into the medium range, neither cheap nor overly expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
11%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Retailer
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise7
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Secure Email Threat Defense?
Comparatively with other products, the pricing of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is normal. As a technical guide, I am not very aware of the pricing details.
What needs improvement with Secure Email Threat Defense?
We have deployed Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense in two customer environments. It is still in development as a new product. Some customer requirements, such as sending logs to a Syslog server, ar...
What is your primary use case for Secure Email Threat Defense?
We are working with Cloud Mail Gateway and on-premise mail gateways. We have worked with Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense.
What needs improvement with Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?
Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is a good product right now, and the report is available in Spanish, which is beneficial for Latin Americans who speak Spanish. They can continue to improve the ...
What is your primary use case for Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?
Our use case with Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is to protect the 365 email.
What advice do you have for others considering Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?
The price of Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is good right now. I would rate Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection a 10 because it is good. My advice for people considering using Hornetsecurity 3...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, Cisco CMD, Cisco Cloud Mailbox Defense
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Luiss University, Lone Star College, T-Systems, Magyar Telekom
concordia, fraunhofer, mazars
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.