We performed a comparison between Barracuda Email Security Gateway and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Barracuda comes out on top in this comparison. Our reviewers agree that Barracuda is powerful and fairly priced. In addition, it has excellent customer support.
"The most valuable feature of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway is the cloud ATP functionality not available on the on-premise version. Most of the zero-day attacks can be mitigated with ATP. Additionally, the reporting functionality is good."
"The most important features of Barracuda Email Security Gateway are the simple and quick configuration, interactive console, and easy-to-understand logs."
"This solution has helped to significantly reduce the amount of junk email that we receive."
"It catches a lot of things and has the ability to add domains as well as add senders and update their things."
"The most valuable feature of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway is the ATP."
"The solution's anti-spam features are its most valuable aspect."
"It can effectively combat phishing attacks, block spam, provide confirmation, and ensure operational manageability with a strong focus on product stability."
"I like Barracuda's cloud sandbox feature."
"The initial setup is straightforward. You just add the license, click it, and then you can set up the rules. It is quite simple."
"Does a thorough job of examining email and URLs for malicious content."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"I would say that 90% of the spam and phishing attack emails get blocked right off the bat."
"It also gives me good visibility because, with Defender, I'm using a Microsoft product to defend Microsoft products. The integration was really seamless and I have wide visibility because it picks up almost everything. Literally, I can see almost every activity that happens, from the e-mail to the workstation itself."
"Artificial intelligence improvement could be used to help block spam and phishing mail that is directly delivered to users."
"There are some times when legit emails are trapped on Barracuda and we are unable to get that information unless we actually log on to the network to find out."
"The DMARC security is somewhat weak and could be strengthened."
"Spam is not always detected, and it should be more automated. We have seen that some emails are allowed by these emails, which are then stopped by Microsoft."
"Barracuda Email Security Gateway can improve reporting and anti-spam. The anti-spam engine is not working well. We are seeing a lot of problems where spam is going through the gateway. Additionally, access privilege should be given to the IT support, because they don't have a lot of privileges. We are forced to give our IT support administrative access in order to clear and deliver emails and this should not be happening."
"The initial setup can be a little bit complex."
"We still have critical threats coming into our environment and delivered to our users. When we compare it with other solutions, these other solutions can already detect those threats."
"The downsides of the solution stem from the fact that it is an expensive product, and one may see too many false positives when using it, making them both areas where improvements are required."
"The pre-sales cost calculations could be more transparent."
"We need a separate license and we don't know how to get the license that is required."
"Microsoft should provide more documentation for users so they can self-educate. I would like to see more documentation for advanced security features."
"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."
"We need to be able to whitelist data at the backend."
"Several simulation options are available within 365, and the phishing simulation could be better."
"One area for improvement is support, in terms of being able to reach them and, especially, technical support for configuration."
"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."
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Barracuda Email Security Gateway is ranked 2nd in Secure Email Gateway (SEG) with 51 reviews while Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is ranked 1st in Email Security with 41 reviews. Barracuda Email Security Gateway is rated 8.0, while Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Barracuda Email Security Gateway writes "Robust email protection with advanced features such as effective spam filtering, virus and malware defense, phishing protection and high scalability". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 writes "Allows for easy reporting of problems, valuable anti-phishing, and anti-malware support". Barracuda Email Security Gateway is most compared with Fortinet FortiMail, Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), Cisco Secure Email, Trend Micro Email Security and Check Point Anti-Spam and Email Security Software Blade, whereas Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is most compared with Proofpoint Email Protection, Mimecast Email Security, Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), Cisco Secure Email and Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration. See our Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 report.
We monitor all Secure Email Gateway (SEG) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.