--- title: "Email Security For SMEs: Choosing An All-round Email Security Service in 2021 | DuoCircle" description: "Email security has been crucial in helping businesses implement appropriate business policies and achieve set objectives." image: "https://www.duocircle.com/images/og-default.png" canonical: "https://www.duocircle.com/blog/email-security/email-security-for-smes-choosing-an-all-round-email-security-service-in-2021/" --- Quick Answer An SME-grade email security service should cover four functions. 1) Email hosting with built-in security: anti-phishing scanning of URLs and attachments on inbound and outbound mail, anti-spam filtering, Link Click Protection-style URL rewriting against spear phishing, and TLS encryption. 2) Outbound SMTP that improves deliverability into recipient inboxes (avoiding spam folders) and protects mail in transit against malware injection. 3) Email security during tenant-to-tenant migration: a service that automates the move and reduces downtime, since data is most at risk during the transition between tenants and domains. 4) MX backup that keeps mail flowing during server failures, reboots, or outages, which is especially important during migration when access can otherwise be cut for days. Verizon's SMB data breach research showed 28% of breaches involve small businesses, and phishing emails rose 600% in 2020, so layering these four functions matters more for SMEs than for larger orgs with deeper budgets. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Femail-security%2Femail-security-for-smes-choosing-an-all-round-email-security-service-in-2021%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Email%20Security%20For%20SMEs%3A%20Choosing%20An%20All-round%20Email%20Security%20Service%20in%202021&url=undefined%2Fblog%2Femail-security%2Femail-security-for-smes-choosing-an-all-round-email-security-service-in-2021%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=undefined%2Fblog%2Femail-security%2Femail-security-for-smes-choosing-an-all-round-email-security-service-in-2021%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Femail-security%2Femail-security-for-smes-choosing-an-all-round-email-security-service-in-2021%2F&title=Email%20Security%20For%20SMEs%3A%20Choosing%20An%20All-round%20Email%20Security%20Service%20in%202021 "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=Email%20Security%20For%20SMEs%3A%20Choosing%20An%20All-round%20Email%20Security%20Service%20in%202021&body=Check out this article: undefined%2Fblog%2Femail-security%2Femail-security-for-smes-choosing-an-all-round-email-security-service-in-2021%2F "Share via Email") ![Email Security Service](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2021/02/spf-record-generator-2457.jpg) _[Email security](/) has been crucial in helping businesses implement appropriate business policies and achieve set objectives_. Without safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data passed through email communication, an SME cannot think of business growth or further development. ## Email Communication: Growing Opportunities And Threats By the year 2024, more than half of the world’s population at [4.48 billion users](https://www.statista.com/statistics/456500/daily-number-of-e-mails-worldwide/) is set to be using email services. _The number of sent and received emails has been increasing over the years_, as the graph shows below. It creates a massive opportunity for SMEs to target their potential customers by building the right email marketing strategy. However, it also creates an enormous opportunity for malicious actors to **exploit vulnerabilities** in the email system and foil the email marketing strategy. The ever-rising number of threats like ransomware, malware, and spear-phishing makes it difficult for businesses to carry out operations. The following statistics will give the audience an insight into the need for a robust [email security service](/). [![phishing emails](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2021/02/spf-permerror-5718.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2021/02/spf-permerror-5718.jpg) - A Cybersecurity Ventures finding predicts that in [every 11 seconds](https://cybersecurityventures.com/global-ransomware-damage-costs-predicted-to-reach-20-billion-usd-by-2021/), businesses will be attacked by ransomware. - NetSTAR, a global **security solutions** provider, reported that there had been a [600% rise](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/netstar-sees-rise-in-phishing-scams-related-to-covid-19-301057467.html) in phishing emails in 2020. - _28% of data breaches involve small businesses_, according to the [SMB Data Breach Statistics](https://enterprise.verizon.com/resources/reports/dbir/2020/smb-data-breaches-deep-dive/), conducted by Verizon. - The Financial Conduct Authority in the UK receives [80,000 phishing emails](https://web.archive.org/web/20210306231406/http://www.thecommentator.com/article/7866/fca%5Fsuffers%5F80%5F000%5Fmalicious%5Femail%5Fattacks%5Fevery%5Fmonth) every month. Such attacks against businesses often result in lapses in email security and render them unable to send or receive emails for an extended period. Therefore, it becomes essential to select a service that offers **email security**, including [phishing and ransomware protection](/advanced-threat-defense). It keeps the enterprise secure against any attacks and maintains smooth operations. ## Essential Features Of A Robust Email Security Service The correct **email security service** provides overall protection to email communication and handling email data for an organization. Below listed are some of the main functions that an effective [email security service](/) undertakes. ### Email Hosting And Email Security It is very well understood in the cyber world that most of the hosted email services offer no **phishing protection** from malicious attacks like **spear phishing**. This protection will be there in the email hosting of the correct service provider. The services must scan emails to detect malicious URLs, attachments, and indicators of fraudulent messages. It will keep an organization safe from data breaches by utilizing [phishing protection](/email/phishing-protection). The email hosting service should include **anti-phishing services** and [anti-spam filtering](/email/spam-filtering) not only on incoming mails but also on all outbound mails. The service should provide advanced protection methods like ‘**Link Click Protection**‘ to protect from spear-phishing and other email security threats. _Email security has been a hot topic in the US and around the world recently_, and rightly so. Google has started notifying users whenever they receive a [non-TLS encrypted message](https://support.google.com/a/answer/2520500?hl=en) in their inbox. By keeping email security a priority, _the [email hosting service](/email/hosted-email) should also provide TLS encryption on their services_. ### Outbound SMTP _An **outbound SMTP** becomes extremely important due to the limitations of peer-to-peer email service providers_. The [outbound SMTP](/email/outbound-smtp/) comes into play to prevent the emails from reaching the recipient’s spam or junk folder. An outbound SMTP’s primary benefit is that it **protects email communication** against malware, increasing email security. It also increases the deliverability in email marketing, where the organization wants to reach all of its target audience. ### Email Security During Tenant To Tenant Migration During [tenant to tenant migration](/email/tenant-migration), one will have to move data from the old tenant to the new one. _The process might turn out to be a complicated situation and pose significant email security and email hosting threats_ even though cloud providers have sophisticated ways of creating backups of the emails. During migration, one has to remove the old tenant’s domain and attach it to the new one. It takes a few days before one can re-access the data. _Most of the **data disasters** concerning email security and email hosting take place during this stage of transition_. Even if one is only migrating between Office 365 tenants, the data remains at risk. [![email security service](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2021/02/smtp-service-6257.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2021/02/smtp-service-6257.jpg) Therefore, choosing an [email security service](/) will be better as it automates the entire **tenant to tenant migration** to reduce the downtime. However, the service should also include an **MX backup** to keep the system running during the migration. ### MX Backup _An efficient **email security service** must protect data through [MX backup](/email/email-backup-mx) during any mishap_. An MX backup service is exceptionally vital during a server failure, server reboot, connection outage, and upgrades. Even when the system is down due to any of the above reasons, email access will be available. It is also beneficial during migration. _During the migration process, a prevailing email security threat is the loss of access to the data_. Users cannot access any information until the migration is completed. At this time, a good MX backup will allow an organization to access the data. An [email security service](/) that provides all of the above services will be the right choice for any SME to safeguard its digital communication from any malicious intrusions. With a robust infrastructure in place, SMEs can implement an excellent **email security strategy** to protect critical data. ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg) Brad Slavin General Manager General Manager at DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across the email security portfolio. ## Secure your email infrastructure Protect, authenticate, and deliver. Contact our team to find the right solution. [Contact Sales](/contact/) [Explore Products](/products/) Share this article [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Femail-security%2Femail-security-for-smes-choosing-an-all-round-email-security-service-in-2021%2F) [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Email%20Security%20For%20SMEs%3A%20Choosing%20An%20All-round%20Email%20Security%20Service%20in%202021&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Femail-security%2Femail-security-for-smes-choosing-an-all-round-email-security-service-in-2021%2F) [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Femail-security%2Femail-security-for-smes-choosing-an-all-round-email-security-service-in-2021%2F) Copy Related Articles - [ BIMI in 2026: What the Certificate Authority Does, and What Your DMARC Tool Does Email Security ](/blog/bimi-2026-what-the-ca-does-what-your-dmarc-tool-does/) - [ ![Designing A Custom Dkim Architecture For High-Volume Email Senders](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2026/04/buy-smtp-1290.jpg) Designing A Custom Dkim Architecture For High-Volume Email Senders Email Security ](/blog/designing-custom-dkim-architecture-for-high-volume-email-senders/) - [ ![DMARC, SPF, and DKIM](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2026/04/spf-record-4526.jpg) DMARC, SPF, and DKIM in 2026: Why Email Authentication Is Now a Regulatory Requirement, Not Just a Best Practice Email Security ](/blog/dmarc-spf-dkim-2026-email-authentication-regulatory-requirement-best-practice/) - [ ![Email Monitoring Tools](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2026/05/spf-validator-6720.jpg) Email Monitoring Tools: A Complete Guide to Protecting Your Email Ecosystem Email Security ](/blog/email-monitoring-tools-guide-protecting-your-email-ecosystem-security/) ## Related Articles [ Email Security 8m BIMI in 2026: What the Certificate Authority Does, and What Your DMARC Tool Does May 5, 2026 ](/blog/bimi-2026-what-the-ca-does-what-your-dmarc-tool-does/)[ Email Security 8m Designing A Custom Dkim Architecture For High-Volume Email Senders Apr 28, 2026 ](/blog/designing-custom-dkim-architecture-for-high-volume-email-senders/)[ Email Security 12m DMARC, SPF, and DKIM in 2026: Why Email Authentication Is Now a Regulatory Requirement, Not Just a Best Practice Apr 29, 2026 ](/blog/dmarc-spf-dkim-2026-email-authentication-regulatory-requirement-best-practice/)[ Email Security 5m Email Monitoring Tools: A Complete Guide to Protecting Your Email Ecosystem May 7, 2026 ](/blog/email-monitoring-tools-guide-protecting-your-email-ecosystem-security/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. 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