Purpose, essential aspects and key features
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Gartner Market Overviews
What is email security?
Last updated: 15 July 2026
Gartner defines email security tools as a product that secures the sending and receiving of email across environments. Its primary purpose is to protect against malicious messages or unsolicited messages. Other functions include email data protection; domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance (DMARC); investigation; and remediation through a dedicated console. Email security tools may be delivered as a gateway (appliance or virtual), via journaling or through API connectors.
Why does email security matter?
Email security tools protect an organization’s email from spam, phishing, malware attacks, account takeover data loss and AI-related attacks such as prompt injection, while providing agent oversight. Optional capabilities include data loss prevention, encryption, domain authentication, security education, as well as the protection of nonemail collaboration tools, such as those for secure document management and instant messaging.
Email security tools give cybersecurity teams visibility into email-related security incidents, support investigation and automated remediation, and enable management of both inbound and outbound email delivery. Email security tools often integrate with other identity, endpoint, application and data security controls; support the protection of collaboration tools; and offer email relay capabilities.
What must email security services offer?
The mandatory features for this market include:
Spam filtering
Attachment inspection for malware/ransomware and subsequent quarantining or disarming
URL analysis and protection
Phishing detection/prevention
Semantic content analysis
What are common features of email security services?
The common features for this market include:
Outbound protection features, such as encryption, DLP and misaddressed sender identification
Account takeover prevention
Security for email agents, prompt injection and consent phishing
Collaboration/productivity tool protection
Threat intelligence integration
Awareness training, banners and educational nudges
Phishing simulation
Message transfer agent (MTA)
Phish reporting and response management
DMARC, DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) or Sender Policy Framework (SPF) management
Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) support
Who should consider purchasing email security services?
Email security tools are used by cybersecurity analysts in operational roles, security operations center (SOC) analysts, infrastructure security engineers, or system/email infrastructure administrators in organizations with limited or nonexistent cybersecurity functions. Other users may include compliance officers, IT auditors and network administrators who may require access to email security infrastructure. End users also may interact with email security tools through digests, training activities or simulation exercises.
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