Review: BorderWare's Email Security Gateway v7.1

For: Strong malware and content protection across email, web and IM
Against: Nothing we found
Verdict: A powerful, cost-effective anti-malware tool. Recommended

The intercept engine actively blocks and protects against threats such as spam, image spam, spyware, phishing, direct harvest attacks, denial of service attacks and anomalous combinations of these. The BSN collects and organises threat data in real time to identify malicious senders and emerging threat trends.

BorderWare’s offering also incorporates a privacy and compliance engine to secure point-to-point email transmissions by using encryption to eliminate data leaks. This product is customisable and scalable for any organisation. For larger networks, the Email Security Gateway uses on-demand clustering technology, making it capable of processing millions of messages per hour. BorderWare uses message-level redundancy to ensure no message is ever lost by sending a copy to another system within the cluster.

Even though this device does some very sophisticated tasks, it is not complicated to use. From the initial setup wizard to policy configuration, it is a breeze to manage. The web GUI is simple to use and policies are easy to set up. Most of the default policy does require configuration, but it does not take too long to get this appliance running just right.

Integration is a key feature here. The Email Security Gateway works with many servers and programs already in use, and it manages disparate threats all in one location. This device not only plugs into the mail stream, but also covers web and IM.

The documentation is very good, with information balloon icons dotted around to explain why one would want to or not want to perform an action during the install process. This reduces configuration errors and limits trouble-shooting problems on the back-end of the deployment.

Support comes as standard and premium-level packages. Both offer 24/7 phone and email support with a one-hour response time. The premium deal includes an assigned account representative who performs regular system checks, on-demand monitoring and, depending on location, emergency on-site support.

Starting at US$9,950, excluding support, this appliance is a good value for the money.

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