Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs Sophos Email comparison

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Microsoft Logo
12,659 views|10,155 comparisons
97% willing to recommend
Cisco Logo
1,625 views|1,269 comparisons
90% willing to recommend
Sophos Logo
3,122 views|2,075 comparisons
95% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense and Sophos Email based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Email Security solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. Sophos Email Report (Updated: May 2024).
769,662 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Defender helps us prioritize threats across our organization.""Since we have started using the solution, there have been fewer compromises.""Microsoft Defender for Office 365's most valuable features are safe attachments and safe links.""The benefit that stands out to me is the ability for multiple individuals to collaborate simultaneously within the same document. Additionally, there is the option to save the document directly in the integrated OneDrive or SharePoint.""The solution is very easy to use. All you have to do is to assign the license to the end-user and it's done. The customer will only have the feature activated, and the solution will monitor the emails to determine if they are a threat or not.""The most valuable feature is the integration. It's a single console, so we don't have to switch around between multiple products. Another valuable feature is the ease of operations and maintenance.""At the moment we are satisfied with this product. It's a stable, scalable, and resilient solution for us.""Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the individuals within our organization who are affected."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Pros →

"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.""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.""It's very easy to deploy and configure.""It has an efficient email filtering feature.""Secure Email Threat Defense's scalability is good.""This solution is easy to use.""The features and functionalities are much better than Microsoft's in-built Defender plan.""Cisco has a threat mechanism called cloud-based Talos, where all the threats are inbuilt."

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"The best thing about it is the logs.""The most valuable feature of Sophos Email is the sandbox. We're able to scan the file, isolate it, and look at it before it is delivered. It is highly effective.""Good VIP protection, time of click protection and the Sandstorm feature.""Sophos Email provides both inbound and outbound filtering.""The solution protects users from phishing links and spam.""I found the user interface friendly.""I have found Sophos Email to be scalable.""I cannot guarantee any email by its name. It can be spam. Sophos Email helps to double-check whether an email is spam or not. It has a dashboard which gives an overview of the alerts."

More Sophos Email Pros →

Cons
"One area for improvement is integration. For example, when it comes to external SaaS platforms, we were not able to get a lot of information on integrations with such apps for security and authentication.""The UI needs to be more user-friendly.""They have moved features from one console to another. Things have been moved around in the interface and it takes me time to find where certain features are.""It would be better if it were more scalable. It depends on the architecture, but we would like to make it more scalable for both data centers.""We noticed that from time to time, Microsoft's stability does have problems. Sometimes the service goes up and down. Sometimes they change without prior notice.""The visibility for the weaknesses in the system and unauthorized access can be improved.""Microsoft security solutions work as expected. They are constantly updating the solutions to make them better. At the same time, the changes can impact a customer's environment, and we need to adjust settings. Sometimes we aren't aware of the changes, and nothing is pushed from the backend automatically.""About eight months ago, we started to measure the quantity of phishing and spam that we have been receiving, and it has been increasing a lot. That means that protection for our email is not as good as we were expecting."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Cons →

"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.""Customers will benefit greatly from monthly billing because the majority of customers today use the cloud, be it Office 365, or Google Cloud.""This solution could be improved by integration with Sandbox.""From a technical point of view, Cisco is far behind in terms of cybersecurity, and it has to improve very much.""The solution is a bit expensive.""We encounter issues while searching for missing emails.""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.""The tool gives false positives and it needs to be more accurate. I would like to see AI as a new feature."

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"The main drawback is regarding the technical support.""Sophos Email can improve mail security.""Enhancing rule creation and customization features would provide users with greater control over their email security settings.""The tool's integration becomes an issue when the internet connection is weak.""The security of the solution could improve.""A lot of legit emails get quarantined.""The tool’s stability should be improved.""Sophos Email could better detect fake emails, especially when the domain names are similar. It needs to improve spotting spoofed domains, like when one letter differs in a domain name. It also needs to incorporate AI detection. Barracuda detects suspicious emails better. However, malware scanning is better in Sophos Email."

More Sophos Email Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "It's a user-base subscription."
  • "From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
  • "Defender is a little bit more expensive as compared to others. We are in the manufacturing environment. So, we don't have a high budget for all of our endpoint devices. Its cost is a major concern for us."
  • "For licensing, it's usually a yearly package for customers who are subscribed to Office 365, but they can also pay on a monthly basis."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
  • "The solution saves money so we have seen a return on investment."
  • "Defender for 365 comes in various plans and licenses, along with other Microsoft security solutions. Purchasing this kind of package or security bundle gives good value for money, and that's what I recommend."
  • More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "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 solution’s pricing is manageable."
  • More Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "There is an additional fee for their central managed console."
  • "Licensing is paid on a yearly basis."
  • "Most of our clients are on a perpetual license. If there is a budget issue, they can choose a subscription. However, most of the clients choose the perpetual license."
  • "The pricing could improve by having additional discounts. For example, when customers buy have more than 50 or more users, there should be additional discounts."
  • "I rate the price of Sophos Email a four out of five."
  • "It is an expensive solution. On a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price, I rate the pricing a seven."
  • "The pricing is fair."
  • "The solution is expensive."
  • More Sophos Email Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various… more »
    Top Answer:The product must provide better malware detection. The detection algorithms don't perform the way I hope they would.
    Top Answer:Secure Email Threat Defense's scalability is good.
    Top Answer:The tool gives false positives and it needs to be more accurate. I would like to see AI as a new feature.
    Top Answer:It has enhanced our approach to tackling malware and spam. It is a reliable product with a good user interface.
    Top Answer:The platform is inexpensive. It offers a cost-effective licensing model. We purchase its yearly license.
    Top Answer:Sophos Email could improve DLP features.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    MS Defender for Office 365
    Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, Cisco CMD, Cisco Cloud Mailbox Defense
    Sophos Email Security
    Learn More
    Sophos
    Video Not Available
    Overview

    Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect organizations against advanced threats in their email, collaboration, and productivity environments. It combines the power of Microsoft's threat intelligence, machine learning, and behavioral analytics to provide real-time protection against phishing, malware, ransomware, and other malicious attacks.

    With Microsoft Defender for Office 365, organizations can safeguard their email communication by detecting and blocking malicious links, attachments, and unsafe email content. It employs advanced anti-phishing capabilities to identify and prevent sophisticated phishing attacks that attempt to steal sensitive information or compromise user credentials.

    This solution also offers robust protection against malware and ransomware. It leverages machine learning algorithms to analyze email attachments and URLs in real-time, identifying and blocking malicious content before it reaches users' inboxes. Additionally, it provides advanced threat-hunting capabilities, allowing security teams to proactively investigate and respond to potential threats.

    Microsoft Defender for Office 365 goes beyond email protection and extends its security features to other collaboration tools like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. It scans files and documents stored in these platforms, ensuring that they are free from malware and other malicious content. It also provides visibility into user activities, helping organizations detect and mitigate insider threats.

    Furthermore, this solution offers rich reporting and analytics capabilities, providing organizations with insights into their security posture and threat landscape. It enables security administrators to monitor and manage security incidents, track trends, and take proactive measures to enhance their overall security posture.

    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.

    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.

    Sophos Email is a comprehensive email security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats and data loss. It offers robust protection against malware, phishing attacks, and spam, ensuring that only legitimate emails reach users' inboxes. 

    With advanced threat intelligence and machine learning algorithms, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks in real-time. Additionally, it provides encryption and data loss prevention capabilities to safeguard sensitive information. 

    The solution is easy to deploy and manage, with a user-friendly interface and centralized control. Sophos Email offers seamless integration with popular email platforms, ensuring uninterrupted communication while maintaining security. 

    With its comprehensive features and proactive approach, Sophos Email is a reliable choice for organizations looking to enhance their email security.

    Sample Customers
    Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
    Luiss University, Lone Star College, T-Systems, Magyar Telekom
    Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company16%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    Government6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Government7%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company29%
    University14%
    Construction Company14%
    Government14%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company37%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    Financial Services Firm6%
    Government5%
    REVIEWERS
    Retailer33%
    Manufacturing Company17%
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Non Tech Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Construction Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business42%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise42%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise51%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise36%
    Large Enterprise45%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise70%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business78%
    Midsize Enterprise7%
    Large Enterprise15%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business39%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise41%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. Sophos Email
    May 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. Sophos Email and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
    769,662 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is ranked 16th in Email Security with 11 reviews while Sophos Email is ranked 10th in Email Security with 26 reviews. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is rated 8.2, while Sophos Email is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense writes "Easy to deploy and configure with excellent support". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos Email writes "Provides good identity proxy features, but sandboxing and spam control features could be improved". Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is most compared with Cisco Secure Email, Kiteworks, Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), Abnormal Security and Armorblox, whereas Sophos Email is most compared with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), Fortinet FortiMail, Proofpoint Email Protection, Barracuda Email Security Gateway and Perception Point Advanced Email Security. See our Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. Sophos Email report.

    See our list of best Email Security vendors.

    We monitor all Email Security reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.