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Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs Fortinet FortiMail comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Sponsored
Ranking in Email Security
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (9th)
Cisco Secure Email Threat D...
Ranking in Email Security
19th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiMail
Ranking in Email Security
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
58
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2024, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 16.7%, down from 20.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is 1.2%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail is 7.6%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

SR
Nov 28, 2023
Stops evolving threats and offers peace of mind
We use the solution for wireless scanning, reporting, and monitoring.  The product is not resource-intensive.  The tool's most valuable feature is virus scanning, which has saved us from malware and ransomware.  We need to be able to whitelist data at the backend.  I have been using the product…
BF
Jun 21, 2023
A stable solution used for email security and email filtering
The solution's initial setup is not complex. Since most engineers in the earlier days were trained on Cisco, it's pretty much manageable. The deployment differs from client to client as the deployment architecture is either on-premises, on-cloud, or a hybrid concept. If you push it on the cloud, you'll have it on AWS. You map the whole connection to your on-premises point DPTR to the Cisco ESA, then it is mapped to your Office 365. It depends on the requirement. Any cloud deployment will take three working days if you have the exact information. Then you can test it and fine-tune it.
EG
Dec 16, 2022
Good GUI and configuring security policies is easy but the pricing needs improvement
The initial setup isn't too complex. I'd rate it seven out of ten. If people know how to set up email security, it is easier. You have to have the basic knowledge of how to set up email security and how to create policies. Any security person who's been in this field for a long time will be able to do it within an hour or two. You do require a minimum of at least two to three people to handle it. You need to have one from the incident-response team who will handle the incidents, analyze the incidents, and then, basically, take a response or action on the activity. Another person should be available to generate reports and, basically, review the reports and provide them to audits and the compliance team. You also need a person who knows the whole system by heart and who's experienced in it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"At the moment we are satisfied with this product. It's a stable, scalable, and resilient solution for us."
"Defender helps us prioritize threats across our organization."
"I like its investigation capabilities, as that is what is most important to me. It is fairly simple with a user-friendly interface."
"Does a thorough job of examining email and URLs for malicious content."
"One of the best features of the tool is its capability to aggregate insights from different workloads, basically from the Office 365 and endpoints part."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a stable solution."
"Since we have started using the solution, there have been fewer compromises."
"Threat Explorer is one of the features that I very much like because it is a real-time report that allows you to identify, analyze, and trace security attacks."
"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."
"Secure Email Threat Defense's scalability is good."
"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."
"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 solution is stable."
"This solution is easy to use."
"Cisco has a threat mechanism called cloud-based Talos, where all the threats are inbuilt."
"I would say it's very comprehensive, with multiple antivirus OEMs, virus encrypt features, encryption, and more."
"When combining this solution with other Fortinet products, such as FortiGate, it integrates well and provides a comprehensive protection package."
"The number of false positives is minimal."
"This excellent email gateway minimizes spam, inspects suspicious emails and isolates infected attachments with little administrative effort."
"Fortinet FortiMail's most valuable features are its performance and security."
"The anti-spam feature is very valuable."
"I think the spamming feature is very valuable."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its interface, allowing users to get around the solution easily. The integration capabilities in the solution are also very easy."
"FortiMail is extremely flexible and very easy to learn. Compared to other email security products that we've tried, it is mainly the ease of configuration that makes FortiMail valuable to us."
 

Cons

"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."
"You should be able to deploy Defender for every subscription without the need to add servers."
"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."
"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 should improve the troubleshooting tools. It's unclear whether the device is blocked at the firewall level or at the device itself. The granularity needed for troubleshooting is currently lacking. From my perspective, Microsoft should address this issue to benefit many users who likely share the same sentiment."
"We need a separate license and we don't know how to get the license that is required."
"In one of the reports I can get the exact place where a vulnerable file resides. But for that, I need to explicitly go into the device and check. If they could include that file part in the report, without my having to go to the device itself, that would help."
"There is room for improvement in terms of reporting."
"We encounter issues while searching for missing emails."
"Customers will benefit greatly from monthly billing because the majority of customers today use the cloud, be it Office 365, or Google Cloud."
"From a technical point of view, Cisco is far behind in terms of cybersecurity, and it has to improve very much."
"Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox can improve by adding advanced phishing, then the solution would become the best in the market. However, this could increase the price even more. Additionally, if CES with domain protection could be added it would be an even better solution."
"The pricing could always be better."
"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."
"Cisco's multiple product lines and verticals made this just one of their many verticals, and we could see a shift in focus."
"The tool gives false positives and it needs to be more accurate. I would like to see AI as a new feature."
"Fortinet FortiMail's technical support team has shortcomings and needs improvement."
"I think they need to look into it and improve their signatures. This will help with blocking incoming spam emails."
"The solution's pricing could be improved."
"The Ui isn't that intuitive."
"Fortinet FortiMail's pricing could be improved."
"Maybe FortiMail's integration could be better."
"My customers frequently ask to have detailed documentation for FortiMail and FortiWeb as they have in FortiGate. What they currently have is not enough."
"The support could be faster because we've been receiving complaints from customers, they say that when they raise a ticket, it doesn't take 24 hours to respond, sometimes the support responds after three days. This is a lot of time."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive."
"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."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
"It is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
"The solution saves money so we have seen a return on investment."
"The product is very expensive."
"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."
"It's a user-base subscription."
"The solution’s pricing is manageable."
"It is expensive compared to other vendors."
"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."
"9,000 Euro per annum for Fortinet Mail and sandbox."
"Pricing is based on initial license purchase and use volume."
"In terms of licensing, we are using a virtual machine license for the single virtual server which it runs on. Doing it this way enables us to cut costs by only licensing FortiMail for our exact use case. If you need to expand in future, you can later buy extra licenses per virtual machine."
"Fortinet Fortimail has reasonable pricing."
"Fortinet FortiMail has an annual license agreement."
"FortiMail has extra charges for installation, configuration, and project management."
"There is a license required for this solution and it is on an annual basis. I am satisfied with the price."
"It's not as that expensive with the competitive different brands. The products sell a lot."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
42%
Healthcare Company
5%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Educational Organization
48%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
5%
Financial Services Firm
4%
 

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?
While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 necessitates pricier E3 or E5 subscriptions, the extensive functionality offe...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is a very good solution that allows you to use a single port or tool to control eve...
What do you like most about Secure Email Threat Defense?
Secure Email Threat Defense's scalability is good.
What needs improvement with Secure Email Threat Defense?
Cisco is a multi-product, diverse organization. Before it was acquired by Cisco, the company that developed Email Thr...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiMail?
The price of Fortinet FortiMail steadily increases every year. There is a possible ten percent increase. It's concern...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail?
The solution's pricing could be improved.
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, Cisco CMD, Cisco Cloud Mailbox Defense
FortiMail
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Luiss University, Lone Star College, T-Systems, Magyar Telekom
Magromer Cueros y Pieles S.A.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. Fortinet FortiMail and other solutions. Updated: September 2024.
802,829 professionals have used our research since 2012.