Cisco Secure Email vs Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Secure Email and Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Cisco, TitanHQ and others in Email Security.
To learn more, read our detailed Email Security Report (Updated: February 2024).
763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
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 email protection is excellent, especially in terms of anti-phishing policies.""The technical support is good and quick to resolve issues.""The product is not resource-intensive.""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.""Our customers are satisfied with Defender for 365 because Microsoft products are easy to use and customize to meet the client's needs. Everything is in one place, so we can adjust policies as needed for phishing, DLP, ATP, or any other security features that our clients want to apply.""Microsoft Defender has a feature to protect each and every attachment. Even if it's an encrypted attachment, it will check for any potential threats.""The most valuable feature is the integration. It's a single console, so we don't have to switch around between multiple products. Another valuable feature is the ease of operations and maintenance."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Pros →

"Initially, the most valuable feature for us was the SenderBase Reputation, because that reduced the number of emails that were even considered by the system by a huge number...""The tech engineers are very knowledgeable.""The most significant enhancement we've gained is in terms of security through the upgrade we received.""The product blocks spam emails.""The user interface was quite friendly, it was quite easy to use, unlike some other Cisco products. Anybody could use it. You don't have to be familiar with IT to be able to handle navigating it.""The solution works well.""I love the Advanced Malware Protection feature. It works very well... The appliance has more security such as SDF, DKIM, DMARC, and encryption.""At one point, there was a zero-day attack. The Cisco appliance detected it and stopped it, helping us out. We avoided the attack and potential damage."

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"The antiviral sandboxing.""Ease of updating the latest hotfixes and patches on the appliance.""In terms of performance, Forcepoint stands out because it is more scalable than any other solution. It can extend to different types of boxes and integrate well with other platforms and vendors. And it doesn't need to have the same kind of box or throughput to have high availability.""Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway does most of its job well, but I especially like its data security feature.""It allowed our company to not worry about the security of a page, but talk more about the content and the productivity of specific types of web categories.""The spam filter is very effective.""Provides good visibility and good filtering features.""Ability to send decrypted traffic to other security solutions for inspection."

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Cons
"The visibility for the weaknesses in the system and unauthorized access can be improved.""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.""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.""There is room for improvement in terms of reporting.""They can improve their security in a way where a customer can know if all their attachments are safe or not to open through a report. The solution does its job perfectly, but it never reports to the customer whether those attachments have been stopped before or not.""The GUI is sometimes slow to fetch the device report and could be improved.""The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement.""About eight months ago, we started to measure the quantity of phishing and spam that we have been receiving, and it has been increasing a lot. That means that protection for our email is not as good as we were expecting."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Cons →

"The initial setup was complex because I have two sites with physical clusters.""There could be additional DLP functionality for it.""The tool's pricing can be improved.""The user interface is a bit complex.""Many smaller businesses opt for more cost-effective solutions, such as Gmail or Hotmail accounts, instead of investing in Cisco Secure Email, given its higher cost.""The solution needs to improve its advanced phishing filters. It is very good at filtering things which have bad reputations. However, when phishing or malicious emails are new or coming from a legitimate source, we don't feel that the solution is working.""We have occasionally had hardware problems because we are using an appliance-based solution, but that might change. We may consider going to virtual systems.""The hardware is not up to the mark. Two to three times a year we have complete downtime."

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"I am looking forward to the full integration of the endpoints that they offer for web security and DLP.""It's the support that's the problem because that's a different question from the product itself — it's the Achilles heel.""The technical support team's response time could be improved.""The reporting must be improved.""It takes 20 to 30 minutes for policy replication.""The availability of clusters is limited, and the product is very unstable. The development team is slow as well.""Overall the software is occupying too much memory space. If they could remedy that, it would be a better experience, because today Windows is occupying too much memory space as well (in terms of the RAM), and this software has also started occupying all the memory. Due to this, I have less space for my other office products and data. I can't, for example, operate a huge Excel sheet or other datasets.""The product needs to have more mobility."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "It's a user-base subscription."
  • "From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
  • "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."
  • "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."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
  • "The solution saves money so we have seen a return on investment."
  • "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."
  • More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "We do annual licensing for Cisco Secure Email Gatewayand SMA together, and possibly SmartNet support. Packaged together, the cost is just under $38,000."
  • "In addition to the standard licensing, there is a cost for SMARTnet as well."
  • "Pricing depends on your environment and which model you want to buy."
  • "Licensing costs depend on how many users there are. It could range between $5 and $7 per month, per user."
  • "The license was not per user, the license model was per feature. You could choose anti-virus, anti-spam, etc. It was feature-based and charged yearly."
  • "There were no other costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
  • "We were using Proofpoint and then we switched to Cisco... reportability was one of the main reasons we switched, but the biggest one was cost. If you can get an equivalent functionality for a better price it's wise to do so. That's what our primary decision came down to: We could get equivalent functionality at a lower price point."
  • "It is not that costly. We pay for the solution through a contractor and pay an annual fee."
  • More Cisco Secure Email Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Expensive, but with a good reseller you can get a very good price."
  • "It is a well-priced option."
  • "It is quite expensive."
  • "The pricing on Forcepoint Web Security is fair. Fair pricing at current market rates, if you are comparing with the competition."
  • "The licensing is not expensive."
  • "The price of this product should be reduced to make it more competitive."
  • "Licensing is flexible. License pricing information is based on the customer, their environment, and on the future approach."
  • "The solution is priced a little high compare to similar solutions."
  • More Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various… more »
    Top Answer:The product must provide better malware detection. The detection algorithms don't perform the way I hope they would.
    Top Answer:The tool comes with AI features. It is good for clients who already use Cisco products due to integration.
    Top Answer:Cisco Secure Email is more expensive than other products. I rate it a five out of ten. There are no additional costs… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco Email Secure's pricing needs to be less. We have vendors who provide cheaper solutions with the same features.
    Top Answer: SWG allows me to track internet usage patterns, helping optimize bandwidth and understand how much time each employee… more »
    Top Answer:I would rate the affordability of Forcepoint SWG as a two out of ten. It is relatively expensive. While some other… more »
    Top Answer:In terms of improvement, some of my clients find that certain security details could be enhanced in Forcepoint SWG… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    MS Defender for Office 365
    Cisco Email Security, IronPort, Cisco Email Security, ESA, Email Security Appliances
    Forcepoint SWG, Websense Web Security, Forcepoint TRITON
    Learn More
    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.

    Cisco Secure Email is an email security solution that provides advanced protection to safeguard inboxes. The solution includes comprehensive defense from the most damaging threats so your employees and organization can remain secure at all times. In addition, it includes advanced threat defense capabilities that detect, block, and remediate threats in incoming email faster. Simultaneously, it protects an organization’s brand, prevents data loss, and secures important information in transit with end-to-end encryption.

    Cisco Secure Email Features

    Cisco Secure Email has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Advanced threat analysis: Easily identify the malicious techniques used in attacks targeting your organization. Understand the specific business risks and categorize threats to gain insight into the parts of your organization that are most vulnerable to attack.
    • Robust, actionable threat data: The solution’s searchable threat analysis data provides critical contextual insight to the attack scope and breadth and expedites remediation.
    • Real-time URL analysis: With this feature, you can drop emails with risky links automatically or block access to newly infected sites with real-time URL analysis to protect against phishing.
    • Domain-based message authentication (DMARC): Users can prevent brand abuse from attackers using their organization’s domain to carry out phishing campaigns with automation of the domain-based message authentication (DMARC) process.
    • Data loss prevention (DLP): The solution enables users to protect sensitive content in outgoing emails.

    Cisco Secure Email Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing Cisco Secure Email. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Optimize your defenses: The solution is designed to protect your organization from threats that can come from multiple sources, including phishing, malware, and ransomware. It can defend against all of them with industry-leading threat intelligence that empowers you to act quickly.
    • More efficient processes: You can use the solution’s orchestration feature to simplify workflows, reduce the burden on your team, and focus on more strategic initiatives.
    • Easy-to-manage tools: The solution is built with tools that are user-friendly and help you spend less time managing alerts. They allow users to quickly detect emerging threats and quarantine suspected threats to prevent their spread.
    • Flexible license options: Cisco Secure Email provides three different license choices: Secure Email Essentials, Secure Email Advantage, and Secure Email Premier.
    • Increase spam catch rates: Cisco Secure Email blocks unwanted emails using a multilayered scanning architecture.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Cisco Secure Email is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are that it has an intuitive interface, reputation filtering, few false positives, and great protection features.

    Enrique J., Owner at Jolly Security Inc., says, "It has an intuitive, clear graphical interface where you can deploy your policies and understand the overall flow. The most valuable feature is reputation filtering.”

    The solution has a “low rate of false positives, good support, and it integrates well with other Cisco security products,” explains Mark R., IT Admin / Manager at a retailer.

    PeerSpot user Charles N., Network Security Engineer at Galaxy Backbone Ltd., mentions, “It is doing its work. It is doing what it was actually designed to do. They have a lot of features such as Advanced Malware Protection, Email Protection, Advanced Phishing Protection, Antispam, Antivirus, and Outbreak Filters.”

    Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is a secure web gateway (SWG) tool that provides multiple forms of protection against malware, including blocking categories of websites, inline scanning of downloaded files, and zero trust-based advanced threat protection. The solution monitors and controls any interaction with any website, including blocking access to websites based on category and risk score, blocking download of malware, blocking upload of sensitive data to personal file sharing accounts, and detecting shadow IT.

    Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway Features

    Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Real-time traffic inspection
    • Protection for off-grid workers
    • Time and content-based access
    • Data leak prevention
    • SCIM provisioning
    • Data-in-motion scanning
    • Connection policies
    • Content policies
    • RBI profiles
    • Discovery dashboard
    • Bypass prevention
    • Unified on-device agent
    • Field Programmable SASE Logic (FPSL)

    Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Fast: The solution is high speed with on-device enforcement. Traffic is routed directly to its destination. In addition, you will experience fewer bottlenecks and choke points.
    • Flexible: Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is designed to automatically scale up or down with traffic needs. It is also flexible because it is hosted on AWS in more than 300 data centers.
    • Advanced DLP capabilities: The solution’s advanced DLP capabilities keep sensitive information from leaking out onto websites to provide consistent protection and simplify management.
    • Streamlined security: Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is part of Forcepoint ONE, a Security Service Edge (SSE) cloud-native platform that provides secure access to web, cloud, and private apps while connecting users directly to websites so you can skip the data center.
    • Unified administrator console: You can use the solution’s unified administrator console to reduce repetitive and redundant configuration management.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are that it has strong reporting capabilities, good URL filtering, and can retrieve and analyze lost data when necessary.

    Shipra G., Service Delivery Manager at Paramount Computer Systems, says, “The reporting part of it is pretty awesome. With the reporting, you can drill down effectively. It gives us a lot of power to really look into what we are looking for. That is one very crucial feature. In the remote filtering part, the agent that they have on Forcepoint is pretty light. That also is a very, very good feature that we look into and sell.”

    Mohammed S., Security Engineer at Futuretec, writes, "The most valuable feature for me in Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is URL filtering, though all other features of the product are okay as well."

    Arvind K., Director at Foresight Software Solutions Pvt Ltd., says, “They have well-integrated web security. They have the enterprise DLP included in the cloud as well.”

    An Ict Help Desk Administrator Individual Contributor at a transportation company states, “The most valuable feature of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is the ability to retrieve and analyze lost data. It also allows us to detect and prevent the release of all messages and to take appropriate actions in consequence.”

    Sample Customers
    Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
    SUNY Old Westbury, CoxHealth, City of Fullerton, Indra
    Adventist Health, Alphawest, Amadori, Anoka County, Compartamos Banco, Davies Turner, EverBank, iGATE, Karlstad Municipality, Lake Michigan Credit Union, Scavolini, Smurfit Kappa, Toyota
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company16%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    Financial Services Firm6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Government7%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company20%
    Energy/Utilities Company10%
    Retailer10%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Educational Organization15%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Government6%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company26%
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Energy/Utilities Company11%
    Integrator7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Government9%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business42%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise42%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business29%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise51%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business32%
    Midsize Enterprise32%
    Large Enterprise37%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business23%
    Midsize Enterprise27%
    Large Enterprise50%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise50%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business23%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise59%
    Buyer's Guide
    Email Security
    February 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Cisco, TitanHQ and others in Email Security. Updated: February 2024.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco Secure Email is ranked 2nd in Email Security with 26 reviews while Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is ranked 6th in Secure Web Gateways (SWG) with 17 reviews. Cisco Secure Email is rated 8.6, while Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Cisco Secure Email writes "The amount of traffic that it stops is massive". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway writes "Reasonably priced, easy to set up, and offers near real-time reporting capabilities". Cisco Secure Email is most compared with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), Trellix Collaboration Security, Fortinet FortiMail, Proofpoint Email Protection and Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense, whereas Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is most compared with Zscaler Internet Access, Cisco Umbrella, Symantec Proxy and Fortinet FortiGate SWG.

    We monitor all Email Security 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.