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Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs Vade for M365 comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Vade for M365
Ranking in Email Security
34th
Average Rating
0.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Office 365 Protection (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 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 Vade for M365 is 0.9%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense1.1%
Vade for M3650.9%
Other98.0%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

GC
Senior Cybersecurity Engineer at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
Provides robust email security features but requires improved modernization and complexity management
Modernization is an area that could be improved for Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense, as some features have lagged behind newer competitors, potentially offering more advanced analysis capabilities. The initial setup is not straightforward and requires expertise and time to master configurations such as spoofing and DLP. More control over backend functionalities and simplifying rule management could enhance user experience. 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. Furthermore, the pricing might deter new users who could opt for alternative, more cost-effective solutions.
Bruno Rolland - PeerSpot reviewer
Commercial Director at DC Communication (DCC)
A stable tool capable of detecting malware while focusing on anti-phishing to protect its users
I don't see ISO 27001 in the solution. While working on the solution, sometimes a customer needs to have a conformity level of SOC 1 or SOC 2 or some other conformity level. I did not see the aforementioned conformity levels added to the solution. Concerning a bank, data can be confidential, and when a bank needs to transfer such data, it has to be specific to a certain level of conformity, which I did not see in the product. Vade needs to incorporate the aforementioned aspects to improve their solution.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"On ease of use, it rates very high. It's something that I was able to get into without really looking at any documentation. I wanted to see what it felt like before I started looking at any documentation on how to use it, and it was very easy to use. It works very smoothly. The user experience is very intuitive. They did an amazing job on that."
"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."
"Overall, it's certainly a very good idea to integrate another layer on top of Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection."
"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."
"Regarding stability, Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is very stable."
"It's very easy to deploy and configure."
"Cisco Cloud Mailbox is used for copying emails, anti-spamming, and securing the company's email, and we really enjoy the anti-spamming capabilities as well as the rejecting of bulk emails, which we can customize by adjusting the variables, and it is very user-friendly."
"The product offers protection, email security, anti-spam, and antivirus."
"It is a stable solution...My company has no worries about the deployment phase of Vade 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."
"The physical appliance has been discontinued, although the platform still exists."
"The tool gives false positives and it needs to be more accurate. I would like to see AI as a new feature."
"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."
"Cisco's multiple product lines and verticals made this just one of their many verticals, and we could see a shift in focus."
"From a technical point of view, Cisco is far behind in terms of cybersecurity, and it has to improve very much."
"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 search area has room for improvement."
"Concerning a bank, data can be confidential, and when a bank needs to transfer such data, it has to be specific to a certain level of conformity, which I did not see in the product."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive compared to other vendors."
"The solution’s pricing is manageable."
"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."
"The feedback from vendors and customer is that it is expensive."
"Vade for Office 365 is a solution offered at competitive prices in the market...Payment has to be made for the whole bundle of Vade products."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Retailer
19%
Construction Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Outsourcing 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.
Ask a question
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Also Known As

Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, Cisco CMD, Cisco Cloud Mailbox Defense
Vade for Office 365, Vade Secure Office 365
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Luiss University, Lone Star College, T-Systems, Magyar Telekom
HTG 360, Weida IT Solutions, KVC Health Systems
Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint, Microsoft, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Email Security. Updated: September 2026.
917,382 professionals have used our research since 2012.