Review: Mimecast Email Security Readily Integrates to Thwart Attacks

The cloud-based platform can protect all aspects of email communication.

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State and local government agencies are solidly in the crosshairs of cybercriminals. And when it comes to today’s top threats, such as ransomware, the fact that many state and local agencies don’t have unlimited resources to devote to cybersecurity can make them a more attractive target than, say, a large corporation with a full IT staff.

Ransomware is the attack of choice for criminals today. It’s extremely easy to deploy using email, takes only one careless user to launch and has a highly successful track record of forcing victims to pay the ransom once their files are encrypted. Entire municipal jurisdictions have been brought down by attacks, and the threats won’t be letting up any time soon.

The Mimecast Email Security platform was designed to fully protect agencies from these risks. It’s a cloud-based service, so it can easily integrate with Office 365, Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace and most other email programs. It can also be accessed through its own platform, which can be branded with the look of the organization or agency using it.

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Multiple Safeguards

Once in place, Mimecast locks down email and protects it in multiple ways so that even the most advanced, sneakiest attacks, such as phishing or business impersonation, won’t be able to launch — even if a user falls for the ruse. That’s because Mimecast works in three distinct zones to halt blended threats.

First, Mimecast protects users at the perimeter using the Mimecast gateway. I tested it using Office 365 and Google Workspace instances and it was able to stop mail with malicious attachments, spoofed domains and other blended threats I tried to sneak past it. It can even be tasked with protecting outbound email, keeping critical or confidential information from leaving via email channels.

While Mimecast’s perimeter security is extremely effective, these days that’s not enough. Thankfully, the solution goes well beyond just a single layer of protection. Even if a coworker has his or her email password stolen, Mimecast can detect when that attacker starts using a compromised account to try to capture more data or launch internal attacks.

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An Increasingly Critical Problem

Finally, an optional feature of the Mimecast service scans the internet for fake websites that attempt to mimic an official agency or organization in order to trick users. Mimecast can alert administrators about those sites and assist in having them taken down.

The Mimecast email protection platform is extremely easy to use, can integrate with almost any existing email service and provides multiple layers of protection without requiring legions of internal IT staff. It’s an elegant solution to an increasingly critical problem, and one that can keep ransomware threats and cybercriminals from threatening or disrupting important agency business.

MIMECAST EMAIL SECURITY

SPECIFICATIONS

Product Type: Cloud-based email security
Works With: Office 365, Exchange, Gmail, Mimecast portal, independent webmail platforms
Threats Mitigated: Ransomware, phishing, impersonation attacks, data leak protection, malicious attachments
Brand Protection: Prevents illegitimate mail from leaving organization
Extra Features: Threat intelligence integration, large file transfer engine to keep mail channel bandwidth free

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Covering the Entire Waterfront with Mimecast

With a cloud-based interface and a lot of automation, the Mimecast Email Security platform can practically run itself. After the initial installation and configuration, there is not much more work needed to keep things running smoothly. At that point, the system is almost “set it and forget it,” if that’s what wanted. However, Mimecast also offers many powerful tools for administrators who want to carefully monitor their organization and improve security.

Because the platform is cloud-based, everything can be monitored through a single pane of glass. Every action that the platform takes is recorded in the administrator interface, and that interface provides very granular information. The administrator can see not only what kind of threats users are encountering, but also the actions they take in response.

For example, say a user was hit with a phishing scam that Mimecast halted by putting the user into an isolated browser after they tried to follow a malicious link. The agency and the user were both protected in that case, but the user could still prove to be a weak link for the organization if they continue to ignore good security practices.

Users with bad security habits can be a big problem, especially at larger organizations, but with Mimecast, administrators can assign training to those who constantly slip up in terms of good cyber hygiene. The training provided by Mimecast is extremely intuitive, showing actual threats in a real-world environment using friendly and well-produced videos. The training shows the proper way to respond to various threats and makes users aware of how to spot suspicious emails in the future.

For even better protection, agencies can incorporate threat intelligence gathered from other devices and platforms into Mimecast to broaden its  threat awareness. And administrators can send information back the other way too, capturing data about the latest threats the solution encounters and sharing that information with a SIEM platform or other defensive tools.

The Mimecast Email Security administrator portal is a force multiplier when combined with the multitiered defenses the platform offers. It allows a single administrator or a small team to punch well above their weight to keep even large organizations safe from the increasingly dangerous world of email-based threats.

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