Proofpoint Enterprise Protection halts email fraud

To solve their problem, the UFS security team evaluated several vendors using a rigorous selection process. They began their evaluation by looking at a broad range of criteria. This included functionality, technology, vision, future product direction, ease of use, support services and ease of integration. They particularly sought a supplier that could respond immediately to new threats, using artificial intelligence and a global threat-collection database to identify and stop any known or potentially malicious messages.

After a thorough evaluation, they held head-to-head proof-of-concept trials with their finalists, designed to focus on actual results. As du Plooy stated, “We wanted the product that was the most effective in stopping threats with the least number of false positives.”

That product was Proofpoint. To solve the specific challenges they faced, the UFS security team based its solution on Proofpoint Enterprise Protection with Targeted Attack Protection (TAP). In addition to the product chosen, a key factor was the local presence of a certified Proofpoint partner. UFS wanted a solution that not only met the technical requirements, but provided in‑country support. KHIPU Networks, a trusted Proofpoint partner, fulfilled this role and requirement.

Phishing attempts were growing in sophistication and users’ confidential information was at stake. So the UFS security team relies on Proofpoint Enterprise Protection for its ability to identify genuine threats without generating a high number of false positives that can reduce users’ productivity. Proofpoint MLX machine learning technology, at the heart of Proofpoint intelligent phishing protection filtering, examines millions of attributes in every email to accurately identify phishing messages. It then quarantines these separately from spam and bulk messages for further administrator review. This approach prevents phishing messages from being forwarded by recipients. And it provides a necessary tool to halt any attack and give the around-the-clock security that the university required.

Proofpoint TAP detects and blocks known and unknown threats. It does this by using a variety of techniques to adapt and identify new cyber attack patterns. These attacks include the use of malicious attachments and URLs designed to install malware or trick users into divulging passwords or other sensitive information. When TAP detects an email that may contain a malicious URL or a dangerous attachment, it blocks the entire message. If a phishing email does get through and the user tries to click the link, TAP prevents the user from going to the site and notifies the security team that the user’s machine might be affected. TAP also applies machine learning to observe patterns, behaviours and techniques used in each attack. Armed with new information, TAP learns and adapts. This makes the next attack easier to catch.

These intelligent features proved to be a critical factor in the security team’s decision to go with Proofpoint. Proofpoint not only met the team’s criteria for an email security solution, but excelled over the competition in the trial. According to du Plooy, “Proofpoint performed best at identifying the real threats while avoiding a lot of false positives. Given our goal of increasing productivity, we felt confident in selecting Proofpoint.”