Mimecast vs. Mailock: Secure Email Solutions Compared

Protecting sensitive data in email communications is crucial. Email is particularly vulnerable to cyber threats, prompting organisations to adopt security solutions to safeguard customer data effectively.

In this comparison, we examine the secure email services offered by Mimecast's email security suite and Mailock. We will discuss their primary features and benefits, including:

Outbound Email Protection: Key elements to consider when evaluating secure email solutions include encryption strength, available authentication types, and email recall capabilities.

User Interface And Integrations: Integrating a new solution should be seamless, ensuring no disruption to workflows. Ease of integration and usability are vital to maximise the benefits for businesses and end users.

Customer Service And Cost: Ongoing support for adopted solutions can be critical. The level of customer service provided and the cost of services are significant factors for many organisations.

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At A Glance:

What Is Mimecast?

Mimecast is a cybersecurity company that specialises in email security and continuity solutions.Focused on protecting businesses from email threats, Mimecast provides services that shield organisations from phishing, malware, data leaks, and email disruptions.

With advanced technologies like machine learning and real-time scanning, Mimecast’s email encryption helps businesses maintain secure and compliant communication channels.

Headquartered in London, Mimecast serves a diverse clientele worldwide.

What Is Mailock?

Mailock, developed by Beyond Encryption, is a robust solution for securing email communications, ensuring that confidential information reaches the intended recipient. It features end-to-end encryption, recipient verification, email recall, comprehensive audit trails, and bulk delivery capabilities.

Mailock is used across professional services and is particularly popular in the financial sector, helping organisations meet compliance and secure sensitive communications.

Based in the UK, Mailock is the preferred email platform for financial services and other regulated industries, including accounting and legal.

Mimecast Secure Messaging Service For Email

1. Email Security

Mimecast provides a variety of security products, with their secure messaging service offering:

Encryption

Mimecast’s AES-256 email encryption can be initiated manually or automated by users based on set criteria. This allows for adaptable security policy implementation.

Criteria for message security include domain or email address, or specific keywords in the content or subject line.

All messages have a 30-day expiration. Businesses requiring detailed audit trails for compliance may need additional solutions.

Email Recall

Mimecast offers manual message recall and preset expiration for secure messages. Recall is available only if the message remains unopened.

Controls for printing and forwarding can be applied individually by senders or enforced across the company.

Verification

Mimecast currently supports two-factor authentication for accounts but lacks recipient-specific authentication for individual messages.

Users set a universal password for accessing secure emails, which can expose messages to password vulnerabilities.

Verifying recipients ensures that messages reach the correct person, protecting sensitive information from unauthorised access or accidental sending.

Read Receipts

Mimecast Suite users can request read notifications for secure messages. However, full auditing capabilities are often needed for regulatory compliance.

More detailed monitoring is available in other Mimecast packages but is not part of the secure messaging service.

Branding

Mimecast Secure Messaging allows users to add corporate branding to secure emails, including company names, colours, and logos.

Administrators can manage multiple branding sets via the console, enabling or disabling them as needed and applying them to secure messaging notifications.

2. User Experience And Integrations

Both the sender's and recipient's experiences are crucial for a new solution. Reviews indicate that Mimecast products require extensive training due to their complexity.

“If you haven't thoroughly investigated the documentation and how the system operates, it can be a little complicated. To maintain everything functioning as intended, we must thoroughly comprehend the workings and limitations of the framework because it is so intricate.”

— Gartner Review

Users report a steep learning curve with an unintuitive interface. Mimecast averages a 4.4 rating in reviews.

Secure messaging can be sent via Outlook, the Mimecast Personal Portal, or the mobile app. It supports user or policy-initiated security, with recipients accessing messages without software downloads. Desktop integration requires manual trigger words to activate encryption.

3. Customer Support And Pricing

Due to Mimecast’s complexity, customer support is essential. They offer resources like articles, videos, and forums, but one-to-one support is often noted as unresponsive, even for paid services.

“Even experienced admins will struggle with it, seek out support, and in many cases be rebuffed.”
— Gartner Review

Mimecast’s plans cater mainly to organisations with 100+ seats, though some options are available for 49 seats. This makes it less suitable for small businesses.

Pricing starts at £3.75 per user per month, with higher-tier plans undisclosed. They offer demos and trials, with customisable options upon request.

Mailock Secure Email

1. Outbound Email Security

Mailock specialises in securing outbound email with a range of tools:

Encryption

Mailock uses end-to-end AES 256 encryption to secure messages and attachments.

Security can be applied by the sender or at the administrator level, facilitating easy integration with existing workflows.

Its advanced key management system ensures only intended recipients can decrypt messages.

Verification

Mailock adds an extra security layer with authentication challenges, ensuring only intended recipients access messages. This feature mitigates the risk of unauthorised access.

Mailock offers various authentication methods, including:

SMS Authentication: Generates a unique code sent to the recipient's mobile device, which must be entered to access the message.

Q&A Authentication: Users can set a question only the recipient knows the answer to, required for message access.

Unipass ID Verification: Ideal for financial professionals, it uses the widely accepted Unipass digital certificate.

These methods help ensure sensitive information is not intercepted by unauthorised parties.

Email Recall

Mailock allows users to retract sent messages, even after they are opened, to prevent accidental disclosure of sensitive information. This can be done via the Outlook add-in or the web app.

Read Receipts

Mailock senders can opt for read notifications, showing the recipient's name and time of opening. This feature can be toggled based on business needs.

Mailock also provides a full audit trail, detailing message status, attachment access, and recall status.

2. User Experience And Integrations

Mailock is known for its user-friendly design, catering to a wide range of users, including those with minimal technical skills.

Its focus on recipient experience allows users to read and download secure email attachments without registering, simplifying the process.

To reply securely, users can sign up for a free account, providing unlimited replies and 5 secure messages per month for free.

Mailock integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 via an Outlook add-in, enabling users to send secure messages without disrupting their usual workflows.

3. Customer Support And Pricing

Beyond Encryption offers comprehensive support throughout the purchase and use of Mailock, with an average customer rating of 4.9 out of 5. Potential customers can receive a one-to-one demo and a two-week free trial to explore the system's capabilities.

“Problem sorted straight away and they even followed up to make sure everything was still working as it should.”

— Customer Support Review

Mailock offers three licence types to suit different needs:

Free: Suitable for occasional secure email needs, offering basic features like email encryption, Q&A authentication, Outlook add-in integration, and read notifications.

Pro: For professionals and teams, starting at £9.30 per user per month. Includes features from the Free licence, plus SMS and Unipass authentication, company branding, trigger words, audit trails, and email recall.

Enterprise: Tailored for high-volume needs, with pricing based on the chosen package. It includes all Pro and Free features, plus advanced analytics, API control, on-premise/cloud deployment options, and bulk sending capabilities.

Licences have no minimum seat requirement and are billed monthly, avoiding long-term contracts.

Mimecast Vs. Mailock

Choosing the right secure email solution depends on your organisation's specific needs. Here’s a summary of the differences:

Mimecast: Offers extensive branding for secure messages, preset expiration or recall options, and controls over forwarding/printing. However, it requires a minimum licence count, lacks recipient authentication, and has a steep learning curve. To compensate, Mimecast can be complemented with other encryption solutions, supported by their 3rd-party encryption guide.

Mailock: Provides AES-256 encryption, various recipient authentication options, robust customer support, and caters to all business sizes with flexible licence and billing options. While popular in regulated industries, its comprehensive features make it suitable for a broad range of sectors.

Reviewed By:

Sam Kendall, 12.06.24

Sabrina McClune, 12.06.24