Kaspersky Security for Mail Server vs Sophos Email comparison

Kaspersky Security for Mail Server vs. Sophos Email

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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...

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 13.7%, down from 20.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kaspersky Security for Mail Server is 0.9%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 2.4%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Security

Featured Reviews

Tolu Omolaja

Head of Department of Network Communications at Eko electricity

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.

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Taha Khaleel

Chief Operations Officer at PRO-VISION

A highly reliable solution that provides monitoring capabilities and protection to multiple types of devices

The initial setup of Kaspersky Security for Mail Server is very easy. The initial setup of Kaspersky Security for Mail Server takes around four minutes. The solution is deployed on the cloud and on-premises. For the deployment process, you can buy the solution in a CD form or purchase it directly from the company website and activate it. My company needs managers, engineers, and developers to deploy the solution. The number of people required for the deployment process changes from time to time, so all the staff are included not just for the deployment of the solution but also to make improvements to the solution in the future. You can contact Kaspersky to see if they can provide the solution with integration capabilities for your company by providing you with an open account, which I haven't tried yet, though I plan to try it in the future.

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NaveedAli

Senior manager IT infrastructure at Machine Learning 1 Limited ·

Provides good identity proxy features, but sandboxing and spam control features could be improved

Sophos gives you a feature set to manage your on-premises firewall on the cloud. I just integrated my on-premises firewall into the cloud, and I can manage the tool through the cloud as well if needed. I recommend using Sophos Email as a proxy. For email gateways, I advise choosing mature products with rich feature sets, like Trend Micro or CrowdStrike. The solution's integration with other tools is very simple. I easily integrated Sophos Email with my Active Directory. My organization needs a WAF with a limited feature set, which we use through Sophos. Purchasing additional WAF will be costly, but I get sandboxing and WAF features free of cost with Sophos, which is included in the license. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a stable solution."

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 helps people to work remotely. It is a secure solution. We don't need to use our company's computers or get VPN connections to the networks. I can control how they share screens and what they send to the devices. It keeps our organizations confidential and sensitive information safe."

"The stability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is fantastic."

"Defender for Office 365 has helped eliminate having to look at multiple dashboards and that is the aspect I like most about it. It is simpler, effective, and convenient. The users like the process efficiency."

"It also gives the vulnerability status according to the versions you have selected. Let's say you have Google Chrome. It mentions the versions it has, and it updates. Within two hours of an update, it is reflected in the dashboard. That's really nice to have."

"It’s easy to handle integrations, and we don't need a lot of people in our IT team."

"Does a thorough job of examining email and URLs for malicious content."

"The product's scalability is good."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pros

"The most valuable feature is the straightforward setup."

"The integration rate is very high in Kaspersky, which is why most of our customers like it."

"You can install the plugins on the same machine hosting your exchange solution. It's a good complement for Sophos security, which scans the traffic before it reaches your mail service. Kaspersky is on the mail server itself while Sophos handles the incoming traffic. With both of them working together, we have the perfect solution for mail."

"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is a highly reliable and dependable solution."

"The most valuable features are the anti-phishing and anti-spam capabilities."

"Sophos Email is in the cloud and integrated with its firewall."

"The solution protects users from phishing links and spam."

"The anti-malware, risk scanning has been pretty spot on."

"The tool is a good solution for protecting against email attacks and monitoring networks. It supports our compliance efforts and is easy to use and stable."

"The most valuable feature is its email security."

"I would recommend Sophos Email to both end-users and other entities that want to protect their emails."

"The deployment is very easy. It's quite straightforward."

"It has enhanced our approach to tackling malware and spam. It is a reliable product with a good user interface."

More Sophos Email pros

Cons

"The product must provide better malware detection."

"The visibility for the weaknesses in the system and unauthorized access can be improved."

"The only thing they should improve is the licensing model. They should stop changing it. A year ago, the five features I mentioned were included in one product. Now, three of them are bundled into one product, and you have to pay extra for the other two. I don't mind paying extra, but I don't want them to change it every year or every six months. I need to know what I'm looking at and not worry about it next year."

"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."

"I'd like some additional features any product can give me to protect our environment in a better way."

"One area for improvement is support, in terms of being able to reach them and, especially, technical support for configuration."

"The UI needs to be more user-friendly."

"There needs to be an improvement in integrating the product to work across multiple operating systems, and to have better support for non-Microsoft file types."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 cons

"Kaspersky lacks in the area of customization, so simpler customization options need to be provided to users."

"The biggest problem in the solution is related to its license renewal since it is pretty hard in Kaspersky to find out the procedure to renew a license."

"The solution is not 100 percent stable and that can use improvement."

"Encrypted email attachments are not being monitored by this solution, which is an area that they need to work on."

"It would be great if Kaspersky could do what Sophos does for us. However, we love having these two different technologies doing the same thing. Sometimes Sophos has the patch to block a novel threat, but Kaspersky doesn't."

"Email installation could be more user-friendly so that it can be done without involving the partner."

"Sophos Email can improve security."

"I would like to see improvements in the initial setup process, ensuring better compatibility with diverse customer infrastructures."

"Sophos Email could better detect fake emails, especially when the domain names are similar. It needs to improve spotting spoofed domains, like when one letter differs in a domain name. It also needs to incorporate AI detection. Barracuda detects suspicious emails better. However, malware scanning is better in Sophos Email."

"The tool’s stability should be improved."

"Their technical support is slow to respond."

"The tool's pricing is expensive. In its future release, the tool should make reporting easier to view."

"A lot of legit emails get quarantined."

More Sophos Email cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."

"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."

"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."

"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."

"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."

"The pricing has become expensive."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pricing and cost advice

"My company makes annual payments towards the licensing costs solution."

"The solution offers one of the best prices possible to its users, making it even better than Barracuda. Kaspersky Security for Mail Server is ten times cheaper than Barracuda."

"Price-wise, I would rate this product a four out of five. It could be a bit cheaper."

"The solution is not expensive."

"The solution is expensive."

"Sophos Email is neither cheap nor expensive."

"I rate the price of Sophos Email a four out of five."

"It is an expensive solution. On a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price, I rate the pricing a seven."

"The pricing is quite reasonable, with a fixed cost and no additional charges."

"It falls somewhere in the middle—it's not excessively expensive nor very cheap."

"Sophos Email is priced lower than its competitors."

"Sophos Email is a little expensive for us, but it's necessary. We have a subscription and renew it every three years."

More Sophos Email pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

12%

University

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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?

I don't have detailed specifics on pricing, setup cost, or licensing.

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

I am generally satisfied with how it currently is. If I could improve anything, I would reduce the cost.

What do you like most about Kaspersky Security for Mail Server?

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is a highly reliable and dependable solution.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kaspersky Security for Mail Server?

My company makes annual payments towards the licensing costs solution.

What needs improvement with Kaspersky Security for Mail Server?

The biggest problem in the solution is related to its license renewal since it is pretty hard in Kaspersky to find ou...

What do you like most about Sophos Email?

The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Email?

Sophos Email pricing is a bit high, especially since I purchase through a partner, and they sell it at a higher price...

What needs improvement with Sophos Email?

Email installation could be more user-friendly so that it can be done without involving the partner. If made more use...

Proofpoint Email Protection vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Comparisons

Compared 14% of the time

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 5% of the time

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 4% of the time

Abnormal Security vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Competitors

Fortinet FortiMail vs Kaspersky Security for Mail Server

Compared 32% of the time

Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Kaspersky Security for Mail Server

Compared 15% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Kaspersky Security for Mail Server

Compared 11% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail Cloud vs Kaspersky Security for Mail Server

Compared 6% of the time

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Kaspersky Security for Mail Server

Compared 6% of the time

More Kaspersky Security for Mail Server Competitors

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Sophos Email

Compared 10% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail vs Sophos Email

Compared 7% of the time

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs Sophos Email

Compared 7% of the time

Barracuda Email Protection vs Sophos Email

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall Email Security vs Sophos Email

Compared 3% of the time

More Sophos Email Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Defender for Office 365

February 2025

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 report

Download Microsoft Defender for Office 365 product report

Email Security

Download Kaspersky Security for Mail Server product report

Kaspersky Security for Mail Server report

Sophos Email

Download Sophos Email product report

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365

No data available

Sophos Email Security

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect organizations against advanced threats in their email, collaboration, and productivity environments. It combines the power of Microsoft's threat intelligence, machine learning, and behavioral analytics to provide real-time protection against phishing, malware, ransomware, and other malicious attacks.

With Microsoft Defender for Office 365, organizations can safeguard their email communication by detecting and blocking malicious links, attachments, and unsafe email content. It employs advanced anti-phishing capabilities to identify and prevent sophisticated phishing attacks that attempt to steal sensitive information or compromise user credentials.

This solution also offers robust protection against malware and ransomware. It leverages machine learning algorithms to analyze email attachments and URLs in real-time, identifying and blocking malicious content before it reaches users' inboxes. Additionally, it provides advanced threat-hunting capabilities, allowing security teams to proactively investigate and respond to potential threats.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 goes beyond email protection and extends its security features to other collaboration tools like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. It scans files and documents stored in these platforms, ensuring that they are free from malware and other malicious content. It also provides visibility into user activities, helping organizations detect and mitigate insider threats.

Furthermore, this solution offers rich reporting and analytics capabilities, providing organizations with insights into their security posture and threat landscape. It enables security administrators to monitor and manage security incidents, track trends, and take proactive measures to enhance their overall security posture.

Microsoft

Email is the number one vector used by cybercriminals to penetrate and attack enterprise IT systems.

Kaspersky Security for Mail Server uses Next Generation technologies including advanced heuristics, machine learning and sandboxing to detect and protect against ransomware, spam, phishing, data loss and even unknown threats penetrating your IT systems through emails and malicious attachments.

Kaspersky

Sophos Email is a comprehensive email security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats and data loss. It offers robust protection against malware, phishing attacks, and spam, ensuring that only legitimate emails reach users' inboxes.

With advanced threat intelligence and machine learning algorithms, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks in real-time. Additionally, it provides encryption and data loss prevention capabilities to safeguard sensitive information.

The solution is easy to deploy and manage, with a user-friendly interface and centralized control. Sophos Email offers seamless integration with popular email platforms, ensuring uninterrupted communication while maintaining security.

With its comprehensive features and proactive approach, Sophos Email is a reliable choice for organizations looking to enhance their email security.

Sophos

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.

Vimpel Com, Estrella Galicia, Krombacher

Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School

Kaspersky Security for Mail Server vs. Sophos Email