Email is one of the leading forms of communications today, perhaps even larger than the telephone and traditional postal mail; thus, finding good email security software is one of the main concerns when providing overall security for companies.

Unfortunately, email is highly vulnerable to outside influences, including individuals and organizations that seek to cause some form of technological damage or hope to make money in an illegal fashion. Although some may see email security as a single issue, it is actually a combination of many different types of threats that work individually to cause damage to computers and to defraud recipients, as well as to undermine the effectiveness, reliability and trust of corporate email security applications.

Email threats can be divided into several distinct categories: viruses; worms and Trojan horses; phishing; and spam. Email safeguards to consider when looking for email security software vendors to help protect against email security issues include:

1. Email security solutions for client security
2. Firewall protection software
3. Email encryption software
4. Anti-virus tools
5. Spam filters
6. Education about email security for your employees

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Where to find email security software covering client security

Virtually all major business email security application clients now offer security settings, anti-spam tools, phishing filters and other features that are designed to stop and isolate dangerous messages before they can inflict harm.

I recommend: Earthlink, AOL, Microsoft, Comcast, and other email clients and ISPs offer these in their basic email packages.

Finding an email security solution through firewall protection

A firewall can tighten corporate email security by filtering out malware-laden attachments and other types of unwanted material that does not meet pre-configured rules.

I recommend: Most ISPs offer built in firewall solutions. You can also purchase firewall software packages from such email security software vendors products listings as McAfee, Norton, Microsoft and many other vendors.

Finding email encryption software

Making outgoing messages unreadable to unauthorized recipients, known as encryption, is a popular way of protecting outbound emails. Email encryption software can help in protecting this data.

I recommend: Email encryption software packages are numerous and can be found by just doing a basic web search using google or any other search engine. Some of the more popular email security software vendors include those vendors mentioned above in the firewall section as well as Guardian Edge, Symantec, SecurStar and Aladdin.

Finding a corporate email security application for anti-virus software tools

Leading anti-virus software products and services do a good job of spotting and removing viruses, worms and Trojan horses from incoming email messages.

I recommend: Many of the leading virus software providers can be found in the previous mentioned Actions Steps including McAfee, Norton, and Microsoft.. Some other good providers include StopSign, Cyber Defender and CyberSoft.

Finding suppliers of email security software that cover spam filters and spam detection software

A good spam filter can tell the difference between legitimate email and spam, freeing the inbox from loads of junk mail.

I recommend: Spam filters are normally provided with ISP packages including those from Earthlink, AOL, Microsoft and PeoplePC. You can find an extensive list of these email security programs by searching the web. Email security software programs covering these areas include Symantec, McAfee, Norton, PC Tools and Spam Soap.

Finding anti-phishing email security software programs

Phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

I recommend: Most ISPs will provide built-in internal anti-phishing solutions, including Earthlink, Microsoft. and AOL. There are many email security software vendors in the marketplace that provide anti-phishing solutions. These include Internet Identity, qifense, McAfee, Norton and Symantec.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure you have a regular update process in place for your corporate email security software, and keep track of the latest security threats. Not doing so can put your security systems, and your business, in jeopardy.