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Abnormal Security vs Check Point Anti-Spam and Email Security Software Blade comparison

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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

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Sponsored
Ranking in Email Security
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (11th)
Abnormal Security
Ranking in Email Security
5th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
Check Point Anti-Spam and E...
Ranking in Email Security
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 13.1%, down from 19.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Abnormal Security is 7.4%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point Anti-Spam and Email Security Software Blade is 0.8%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

Tolu Omolaja - PeerSpot reviewer
Great URL scanning and attachment scanning, but I would like more proactive threat analysis
The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning. URL scanning involves an automatic scan of links and emails. When a user clicks on a link within an email, the system promptly checks the link's safety. If the link is deemed safe, access is granted automatically. However, if it is flagged as unsafe, we receive feedback and notification to caution us about the potentially harmful link. At this point, we are presented with the option to proceed or return. I have personally witnessed the system identify a few unsafe links, making this the primary advantage of using the solution. The second crucial aspect is the scanning of attachments. When an email containing an attachment arrives, we receive a notification of the new email, along with information that the attachment is being scanned for threats. This additional layer of security provides peace of mind for our organization. While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers numerous features, these two stand out as particularly impressive and valuable to us.
William Schellhaas - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides comprehensive email security management, effective in detecting a wide range of email threats
The ideal scenario would be for Abnormal Security to work in tandem with Microsoft to analyze incoming emails. This means Abnormal Security would assess emails before they reach my inbox, even if it happens slightly after Microsoft's initial scan. Currently, the process isn't seamless. Microsoft analyzes emails and delivers legitimate ones to my inbox. Abnormal Security then scans these delivered emails, and if flagged as malicious, they disappear. This creates a problem for our ticketing system mailbox, which is a third-party service. Emails sent to the ticketing system address are automatically forwarded by Microsoft. However, if these emails are malicious, Abnormal Security only cleans them from my Outlook mailbox after they've been forwarded. Since we primarily rely on the ticketing system and not the Outlook mailbox, these malicious emails still reach the ticketing system.
Dushyant Trivedi - PeerSpot reviewer
Effectively secures data centers against various threats, including spam emails and provides policy-based control
It is a stable solution. We implemented the solution in HA. This is because the solution is highly available and can withstand hardware failures and software upgrades. Once the solution is implemented, there is no need for any further downtime for the Check Point server. Because once we change any policy, we can break the High Availability (HA) session and define the new policy on the Check Point Security Gateway (SGW) in isolation. This allows us to test the new policy without affecting the production traffic. Once the new policy is tested and active, we can then activate it on the HA pair and bring the HA session back up. This process ensures that we can make changes to the policy without any interruption to the user experience. It is a really stable solution. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.

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 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 risk level notifications are most valuable. We get to know what kind of intrusion or attack is there, and we can fix a problem on time."
"The basic features are okay and I'm satisfied with the Defender."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its spam filter."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365's most valuable feature is its performance."
"The technical support is good and quick to resolve issues."
"I would say that 90% of the spam and phishing attack emails get blocked right off the bat."
"The stability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is fantastic."
"Ease of use is undoubtedly one of the most valuable features of Abnormal Security."
"I like Abnormal's threat protection with auto-remediation, but I also love its abuse mailbox feature, which automatically responds to the end user. That feature has a super-valuable security component and helps improve the user experience."
"Initial auto-remediation allows us to auto-remediate before the email lands in the end user's inbox for a split second."
"Their ability to take things out of the mailbox and catch things much faster than users is excellent."
"The features that appeal to me most are the combination of auto-remediation and Detection 360."
"It does some really cool stuff that other tools aren't doing. We found it to be really effective, and the AI/ML functionality is really what differentiates them."
"I have never encountered any stability issues with Abnormal."
"It protects us from being business email compromised, which is invaluable for maintaining our security."
"The most valuable features of the solution include advanced threat detection."
"It does a better job of recognizing spammers."
"I like the flexible configuration set, e.g. both the content-based and the IP reputation anti-spam are supported, but you may choose to disable the mechanism you don't like."
"The most valuable feature for me is real-time detection and remediation."
"Check Point Anti-Spam and Email Security Software Blade helps my organization by enhancing email security."
"The functionality is better."
"One of the standout features of the product is a significant reduction in false positives, achieved through the implementation of artificial intelligence for detecting malware, phishing attempts, and spam emails."
"It helped us to achieve process compliance with over 90% effectiveness."
 

Cons

"I'd like some additional features any product can give me to protect our environment in a better way."
"Microsoft wants its well-paying customers to finish testing some of its half-baked products, find bugs, and report bugs back to Microsoft's team, which is a little frustrating for those who have to manage it and roll it up to thousands of people across the organization."
"Microsoft needs to broaden its global support presence by establishing teams of subject-matter experts in all regions."
"One area for improvement is support, in terms of being able to reach them and, especially, technical support for configuration."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365's Mac functionality requires improvement to deliver the same level of protection found on Windows devices."
"The changes to customer service, specifically the new model for support agreements, are not favorable."
"The XDR dashboard has room for improvement."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 could improve by giving customers information on techniques to prevent threats. For example, information about best practices on how to protect their own devices against hackers and scammers, such as educational information or training. This would help others have a better understanding of cyber security. Additionally, there can be more security features added."
"There could be more selectable options and more granular selections available."
"I would like to have the ability to customize the auto-remediation feature."
"I, as such, do not have anything that I do not like or would like to add, but you could argue that because they are doing it API-based, there is a chance that something could slip through temporarily before they are able to pull it out. In theory, it could happen just because of the nature of the system. They are not in line with the delivery of the mail. They are kind of asynchronous, which is a pro as well as a con. If it is synchronous, then I know it would always stop them, but because it is asynchronous, things could get through temporarily or because of some system issues on the Microsoft side or their side. It is the nature of the beast, but it is a little bit of a con."
"There could be more selectable options and more granular selections available."
"The ideal scenario would be for Abnormal Security to work in tandem with Microsoft to analyze incoming emails."
"The pricing for academic institutions and student mailboxes is challenging."
"The biggest pain point for us is the lack of support for on-premise email systems."
"One feature I'd love to see is outbound scanning."
"AI-based threat detection could be enhanced to improve security."
"The ease of use with the user interface could be better as it is very static."
"User experience can be improved."
"They should upgrade support services and make a more user-friendly database."
"If you face any configuration problems, Check Point is the only solution."
"A major area for improvement is within some of the heavily discounted software blade add-ons on top of the current Next Generation Threat Prevention and SandBlast and Next Generation Threat Prevention offerings."
"The solution's technical support is an area with shortcomings that need to be improved for the better."
"The UX/UI could be more friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution could be better by simplifying the business model of their licensing. It was hard to figure out how to get the licensing done for the environment, initially."
"While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 necessitates pricier E3 or E5 subscriptions, the extensive functionality offered by these licenses across various Microsoft products justifies the investment."
"It is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
"I know that the product is incredibly expensive."
"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."
"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
"The license is based on the user count, so the number of users that have an email address in the organization."
"The pricing appears fair, and they demonstrate a genuine willingness to work with us on it."
"Overall, we'd certainly prefer lower pricing, but Abnormal Security doesn't seem unreasonable compared to similar offerings in the market."
"Abnormal Security, on the other hand, provides the same level of functionality for just over $60,000 – that's half the price!"
"I rate the product pricing a seven out of ten."
"Choosing the correct set of licenses is essential because, without the additional software blade licenses, the Check Point gateways are just a stateful firewall."
"I rate the pricing as an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."
"For licensing, my company makes yearly payments, which is expensive."
"This is a simple system with a very low cost and basic functions, which surely is ideal for a small company."
"The cost is competitive with other security products on the market."
"Reasonably priced solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Security Firm
24%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of variou...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Money-wise, it is a part of the Office 365 ( /products/office-365-reviews ) suite, making it slightly more expensive ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
The main area for improvement is simplifying the implementation and rollout process. There are many conditions to be ...
What do you like most about Abnormal Security?
The features that appeal to me most are the combination of auto-remediation and Detection 360.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Abnormal Security?
I find the pricing to be favorable, but I did not disclose the exact cost.
What needs improvement with Abnormal Security?
There could be more selectable options and more granular selections available.
What needs improvement with Check Point Anti-Spam and Email Security Software Blade?
Regarding Checkpoint, I would suggest an easier interface to understand. With time and practice, users can get a bett...
What is your primary use case for Check Point Anti-Spam and Email Security Software Blade?
My primary use case is to mitigate any spoofing or phishing attempts related to the intake of emails and outbound ema...
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Foot Lcoker, Xerox, Liberty Mutual, Mattel, Boston Scientific
SF Police Credit Union (SFPCU)
Find out what your peers are saying about Abnormal Security vs. Check Point Anti-Spam and Email Security Software Blade and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,207 professionals have used our research since 2012.