All our Office 365 emails will first go through Barracuda. It checks for any EXEs and the like, checking the email contents to allow or stop those. We also use the solution for archiving and backups.
Network Administrator at Ras Al Khaimah International Airport
The solution did a great job of blocking EXEs and phishing emails
Pros and Cons
- "Its backups are valuable."
- "The dashboard's UI could be improved to make changes to the blocklist."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
From a security point of view, Barracuda Email Security improved our mail environment. Other than that, its backups are valuable.
What needs improvement?
The dashboard's UI could be improved to make changes to the blocklist. We currently have to go into the mail and check the list and the dashboard, and it would be better if we could directly block particular domains or emails instead.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used this solution for almost four years.
Buyer's Guide
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Barracuda Email Security Gateway. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Barracuda has been stable till now.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 100 users using Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
How are customer service and support?
Barracuda's technical support is fine.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used to have FortiMail, and we migrated to Barracuda. Barracuda is much more effective than FortiMail. Barracuda handles spam better.
What about the implementation team?
An integrator handled the initial setup.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We find the solution's pricing okay.
What other advice do I have?
Our management wants to migrate to E5 from E3 and says we don't need Barracuda Email Security. However, we are unsure if E5 will have the same features as Barracuda.
I recommend Barracuda, and from a security point of view, I would rate it a nine out of ten. It didn't let any EXEs or phishing emails through.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Presales Engineer at SNSIN
Quick configuration, simple log management, but performance could improve
Pros and Cons
- "The most important features of Barracuda Email Security Gateway are the simple and quick configuration, interactive console, and easy-to-understand logs."
- "Barracuda Email Security Gateway can improve email detection. We have some emails that are bypassing the threat scanning. There are some impersonation emails passing through."
What is our primary use case?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway can be deployed on the cloud or on-premise.
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is similar to a traditional spam filter but provides more features. It protects you from the attacks that are coming through your emails. It scans and filters your email, and delivers them.
What is most valuable?
The most important features of Barracuda Email Security Gateway are the simple and quick configuration, interactive console, and easy-to-understand logs.
What needs improvement?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway can improve email detection. We have some emails that are bypassing the threat scanning. There are some impersonation emails passing through.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Barracuda Email Security Gateway for approximately five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is good. However, the appliance will have some challenges, after three years of use we have some performance issues in some boxes.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The Barracuda Email Security Gateway is scalable when in the cloud.
We are using devices that support 5,000 users. We have been hiring more employees now that the lockdown from covid is slowing down.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used Proofpoint and Check Point previously.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is straightforward. It can be done in quickly by experts or if you follow the wizard it can be done in 30 minutes.
What about the implementation team?
We have one engineer for the deployment and maintenance of Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We typically purchase a one or three-year license for Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Barracuda Email Security Gateway a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Barracuda Email Security Gateway. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
A good all-in-one package with phenomenal anti-phishing capabilities and good support
Pros and Cons
- "This product is powerful and quite simple to use."
- "I would like to have better integration with third-party archival vendors to facilitate moving data in and out."
What is our primary use case?
This is a total email security solution.
What is most valuable?
This product is powerful and quite simple to use.
It has a unified interface for archiving, security, and backup, all put together into one portfolio.
This product has phenomenal anti-phishing capabilities.
What needs improvement?
I would like to have better integration with third-party archival vendors to facilitate moving data in and out. This is definitely an area that should be worked on.
Having better user admin controls from an application perspective would also be helpful.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the Barracuda Email Security Gateway for about a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable and we have had no issues.
Because it is a cloud subscription, it is updated automatically.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, we haven't had any issues. We have more than 100 users. There are a couple of administrators but most of them are end-users.
How are customer service and technical support?
The Barracuda support is far better than Trend Micro.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to Barracuda, we were using Trend Micro InterScan Messaging Security, and then we were using Symantec's Email Security. We now have all of the features that we want in a single product.
Working with Trend Micro is a little bit tricky at this point in time.
How was the initial setup?
This solution is very easy to install. It took us a couple of days to deploy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We pay between $8 and $10 USD per user per month.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, this is a good product with wonderful security capabilities and I definitely recommend it.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Customer Service Staff at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Easy to use with a user-friendly configuration and web interface
Pros and Cons
- "It's easy to use. The configuration and web interface are user-friendly."
- "Barracuda should have a sandbox feature in the appliances."
What is our primary use case?
It's easy to use. The configuration and web interface are user-friendly. The spam filter and other features work well.
How has it helped my organization?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway helps me filter many emails each day. The tool for sending emails is easy to configure. In my company, we send a high volume of emails daily. Barracuda system is useful.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the spam filter.
What needs improvement?
Barracuda should have a sandbox feature in the appliances. That's the only thing missing. In my company, we have four appliances, and we have to use a third-party brand for sandboxing.
Moreover, sometimes phishing emails still pass through, which is a drawback. I would say it's about 80% to 90% effective.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with this solution for seven years. We have deployed it on VMware. Moreover, we are using Barracuda Email Security Gateway 400.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability is a ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the scalability of Barracuda an eight out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy. I had to change all the appliances in the past due to a hardware refresh, but configuring the new appliances was easy.
What was our ROI?
It's a good investment. We've seen a significant return on investment.
What other advice do I have?
In my opinion, I only have experience with Barracuda so I might recommend it. But, I would suggest exploring other options as well, like Microsoft, to have a better understanding.
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Manager at a insurance company with 51-200 employees
Increases productivity and functionality; good customer service
Pros and Cons
- "Thanks to Barracuda Email Security Gateway, I have seen increases in productivity and functionality in terms of spam reduction and filtering against different threats, which is a benefit by default."
- "I have noticed that it takes a little time to get familiar with after deploying and some tweaks need to be done as things come up."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for this solution is spam filtering. It extracts messaging for us. Thanks to Barracuda Email Security Gateway, I have seen increases in productivity and functionality in terms of spam reduction and filtering against different threats, which is a benefit by default.
What is most valuable?
The things I find valuable are how it is easy to maintain and its seamlessness. I cannot say it's better or worse than any other solution, but I have no issues with it as it does what it needs to do.
What needs improvement?
I have noticed that it takes a little time to get familiar with after deploying and some tweaks need to be done as things come up.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We've had a couple of issues pop up over the three years but they were resolved within 15 minutes. One issue that wasn't critical took around a day to resolve.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability of this solution a 10, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best. Currently, there are about 175 users of this solution in our company.
How are customer service and support?
I would say that their customer service is quite good. You will always be able to get someone on the line whenever you call.
How was the initial setup?
I would say the initial setup was super simple and quick. It takes a couple of hours to deploy. After that, you're up and running.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would say that this solution is more expensive than the competitors.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution a 10, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best. Barracuda Email Security Gateway has been fine for our use case.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Manager at Havells
Highly stable, straightforward initial setup, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is that it blocks almost 99 percent of threats from users' email inboxes."
- "Barracuda Email Security Gateway should add auto-remediation to improve the solution. Additionally, there are times when we have false positives and our general emails get locked, we have mentioned this to Barracuda."
What is our primary use case?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is used to protect users' email inboxes from malicious threats coming from outside of the network. For example, it can be a malicious link or some malware as an attachment. If these threats are sent to our users, then it blocks and deletes the email.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is that it blocks almost 99 percent of threats from users' email inboxes.
What needs improvement?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway should add auto-remediation to improve the solution. Additionally, there are times when we have false positives and our general emails get locked, we have mentioned this to Barracuda.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Barracuda Email Security Gateway for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is a cloud solution, therefore it is highly scalable.
Everyone in our company is using this solution. It is protecting 10,000 users' inboxes. We do not plan to increase users.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good, we did not find any issues with them.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using another security tool previously. We were looking for an advanced tool that helps us to log more threats and incident management. This is why we chose Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is straightforward. The process can take approximately 15 to 20 days.
What about the implementation team?
We did the implementation of the solution ourselves without a partner.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a long agreement with Barracuda Email Security Gateway. We're very pleased with the cost and the solution. The cost is in the average range for this type of solution.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Barracuda Email Security Gateway an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Regional Manager at Digitaltrack
A stable and cost-effective solution that can be used for securing emails
Pros and Cons
- "Barracuda Email Security Gateway is very simple to use."
- "Barracuda Email Security Gateway should include ATP in the next release."
What is our primary use case?
We use Barracuda Email Security Gateway for securing emails.
What is most valuable?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is very simple to use. The solution is predominantly suited for less than 10,000 mailboxes. Barracuda Email Security Gateway has a simple dashboard.
What needs improvement?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway should include ATP in the next release.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have worked with Barracuda Email Security Gateway for the last 15 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate Barracuda Email Security Gateway an eight out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate Barracuda Email Security Gateway an eight out of ten for scalability.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is a cost-effective solution.
What other advice do I have?
I use the latest version of Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
Overall, I rate Barracuda Email Security Gateway a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
Assistant General Manager at CoLoCity
Instantly blocked and reduced our spam emails
Pros and Cons
- "The client has the option to blacklist or whitelist any email address or domain based on the sender and recipient filters. If they want, they can restrict any IP addresses so email won't be received from those IP addresses."
- "Barracuda should add an option where it can add multiple domains, such as abc.com, bbc.com, and cbc.com. Therefore, this domains' emails will be allowed and other domains' emails will not be relayed through Barracuda Email Security Gateway. Whereas, if you allow the IP address, then any of the domain's emails will be relayed through Barracuda Email Security Gateway. That is the drawback that I have observed. So, Barracuda should work on this."
What is our primary use case?
We use Barracuda Email Security Gateway and also provide it for our customers to reduce incoming spam. It provides security for email delivery from our customer sites and also our sites. Most of our clients, who get a lot of spam, manage their own email server, but they do not have a dedicated spam filter or email security gateway. As a result, they get a lot of spam. Because of this, they end up searching for a solution that they can use. They do not want to buy a dedicated solution. Instead, they want to use a subscription option.
In our VM, we provide a subscription model. People are server scraping to us for incoming and outgoing purposes.
This is an on-premise solution in our data center. We provide it to our remote customers as a hosted service.
This is a virtual appliance installed within a server. The VM is installed within the Hyper-V Server.
How has it helped my organization?
Remotely, we receive email from specific servers. We allow it outbound by using an IP address. If there is an email server delivering more email than the accepted value, then Barracuda Email Security Gateway utilizes the maximum connections per IP address in 30 minutes. By default, the recommended number is 50, but we customize it according to our requirements, e.g., having an email server handling more than 1,000 email boxes and sending 200 to 500 emails within 30 minutes. Sometimes, there is an emergency requirement where they want to send their 2,000 to 3,000 EGM-related or marketing-related emails, then we customize the value. We increase it to 2,000 or 3,000 so they can deliver those emails within a minute from their server through our Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
From a front-end security point of view, Barracuda Email Security Gateway instantly reduced our spam. That is the main benefit that we are getting together with our customers. It instantly reduced spam emails or emails with a bad reputation from SpamCop and RBL. Those emails instantly get blocked by the Barracuda Email Security Gateway and not a single email is delivered to its destination.
Every client gets their own administration panel, where they can add their users' emails and create accounts for administering their domain. This provides flexibility for the customer.
What is most valuable?
There are many customizable options:
- Attachment filtering, where we are filtering attachments according to our requirements.
- IT-based configurations, where we allow domains. We are blacklisting domains that we do not want to pass through.
- Rate Control feature, where we have the user license for 10,000 incoming and outgoing emails. Therefore, 10,000 users can use this device.
The client has the option to blacklist or whitelist any email address or domain based on the sender and recipient filters. If they want, they can restrict any IP addresses so email won't be received from those IP addresses.
Another interesting feature of Barracuda Email Security is the content filtering. If there is any word or sentence that we or our customers want to block, then we can add that thing in Barracuda Email Security Gateway. The content contained in the email will not be delivered or received by the recipient. Maximum customization options are available.
What needs improvement?
The solution has to improve in a very specific way. When we allow our customers to send or scan email through our Barracuda Email Security Gateway, we are permitting their email server IP address, but not any domain. One of our customers has an email server where they are hosting five domains within their server. They are sending and receiving email through that server by using Barracuda Email Security Gateway. Therefore, we allow their IP address to send email through our Barracuda Email Security Gateway, then we declare MX for receiving email on behalf of our customers. After receiving the email, we deliver it to the specific IP address of the customer. Since we are only allowing the IP address, if an incident happens within a customer's email server or an email server gets compromised, then it starts sending spam. That creates a huge problem for the solution as it allows all emails because the customer's IP address is allowed to relay email through our Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
Barracuda should add an option where it can add multiple domains, such as abc.com, bbc.com, and cbc.com. Therefore, this domains' emails will be allowed and other domains' emails will not be relayed through Barracuda Email Security Gateway. Whereas, if you allow the IP address, then any of the domain's emails will be relayed through Barracuda Email Security Gateway. That is the drawback that I have observed. So, Barracuda should work on this.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using it for more than seven years. We are using Barracuda Email Security Gateway to provide hosted security solutions for our customers.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In the last seven years, we have faced three major problems: One is security related and the other two are service functionality related. One of these happened this year. There was a bug within Barracuda Email Security Gateway where the antivirus system scanner was getting hung. We contacted the Barracuda Email Security Gateway support service who worked for a couple of days to make this stable. After that, it was fine.
I forgot that I changed the administrator password a year and a half ago. Then, I came to the office one day and was trying to log into my administration portal, but I gave the wrong password because I forgot it. Somehow, I was not able to remember the password. I tried giving several passwords, and then suddenly I put in the old password. So, I logged in by using the old password on this device. Then I thought, "What have I just done?" I am logged out again and put in my new password. I have logged in. I am again logged out, then put in the old password and was logged in. This was a problem.
I contacted Barracuda's support team and raised a ticket about how both the old and new passwords were working for the admin account, as this was a security concern. Because if the admin account is compromised, that would be a direct security concern. Barracuda Email Security Gateway support team got involved. They logged into the solution, taking necessary steps. Then, the old server was made obsolete and did not work anymore.
We sent out a message that we are concerned about it. For example, if any customers using the physical or virtual appliance have an admin password that is tagged or an administrator has left their company, then the new administrator should change the password or the old administrator can gain access by using the old password.
"How to remedy this security hazard?" That was our question. They said, "There are some cashing-related problems that did not propagate properly." Now, it is okay and functioning properly.
Our main objective is reducing spam and delivering email accurately. That has been our objective. By using Barracuda Email Security Gateway, we are achieving this.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability depends on the ability of the system.
The scalability in Barracuda Email Security Gateway works separately in other platforms. If you think about virtualization technology, that works another way. You can make it scalable. If you have a 1,000 VM capacity in a virtual infrastructure, you can scale it by adding other nodes, physical hosts, memories, hard disks, etc. You can have a 2,000 capacity by keeping other infrastructure or servers online. Barracuda Vx300, Vx400, Vx600, Vx800, and Vx900 have their own capacity. For example, Barracuda Vx600 has a 10,000 users capacity. Whereas, Vx800 has a 22,000 user capacity and Vx900 has a 30,000 user capacity. Therefore, if you want to scale out, you need to buy a new version.
If we want to use the capacity for 22,000 users, we would need to purchase the license for the Barracuda Vx800 model, then download and install it. So, there is an option for backing up our existing solution in the Barracuda Cloud. After moving the backup to the Barracuda Cloud, we can restore the backup to another device and the configuration is done instantly. While Barracuda is not 100% scalable, it does give flexibility to restore your old configuration.
How are customer service and support?
The support is divided in many ways. When we first generate a support case, it is accepted by their initial support teams on the front line, where the Level 1 technical guy takes the support case. If they are able to do anything, they do. Otherwise, they hand it over to their senior teams. That is the process that happens.
When we get support from Europe or America, we instantly get proper support. During a recent support experience, it was admitted by their US team who acknowledged a problem, but the subcontinental teams did not acknowledge that they had a problem.
Overall, their support is good. I would rate them as seven out of 10.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very simple. If you purchase an appliance or physical device, then you can just power it up in your data center. You then add the domains: one default domain and one public IP address. After that, you can handle it however you want. You can add new domains or allow other IP addresses for relaying emails. That is pretty simple.
On the virtual end, you must download the virtual instance from their website if you support Hyper-V, VMware, or other virtual clouds. So, you can download the VM and import it to your hypervisor. After providing your IP address and setting up your password, it will run instantly. The rest of the process remains the same as the physical device setup.
After the download, if you have the VM, then it will take a maximum of two hours to make it go live.
What about the implementation team?
We do the deployment ourselves. We download it from the Barracuda website portal, then we have our own server where we deploy it.
What was our ROI?
We are a service provider. We calculate our CapEx, OpEx, and ROI. While it is not returning the way we expected, it does get returns.
For corporate customers or a single organization who have one to five domains and are using Barracuda Email Security Gateway, the concern is not the investment or money. The concern is security. They are thinking about their email security. In comparison to other products, I think Barracuda is giving them proper value.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This is one of the major points for integrating this solution in any organization. Barracuda Email Security Gateway needs to make it a bit more tolerable for customers because it is increasing every year. They should create a plan for reducing the cost.
I have observed that the price if I purchase from an American/European site, a European vendor, a European distributor, or Barracuda distributor in the European, Canadian, or American regions online, they are selling the virtual Vx model license for less than subcontinental distributors. For example, there is only one distributor in our country, so the price depends on them. Nobody can purchase a physical appliance license from other regions, while anybody can purchase a virtual appliance license from another region. Therefore, the virtual appliance license in Europe, America, and Canada are lower than our regional price.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate any other vendors. We just chose Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
What other advice do I have?
Research what you are looking for and why you want to use it, determining:
- How critical is your email solution?
- How is your organization thinking about security?
- How is your company assigning value to email?
If it is important or critical, then you can try the trial version of Barracuda Email Security Gateway Cisco IronPort, or any email security that is in the market. After that, you get the experience of a 30-day trial. This is very convenient for users or customers to make a decision on what platform they will use.
If they have security concerns, they will not think about the money. However, if their company is an SME or needs to maximize their productivity regarding their investment, then they will want to get maximum productivity from that device to justify the investment. Therefore, they will need to think carefully about the email security gateway that they will use.
Everybody has their own perceptions in the security field. If anyone wants to use any security gateway for their email security purposes, then they need to decide which one they want, their objective, and what they want to achieve.
I would rate the overall solution as nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Barracuda Email Security Gateway Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: December 2024
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