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April 19, 2023

Flexible Deployments for Enhanced Email Security

Learn about the benefits of flexible deployment with Darktrace's cutting-edge technology. Explore how to stay ahead of email attacks and stay safe with AI.
Inside the SOC
Darktrace cyber analysts are world-class experts in threat intelligence, threat hunting and incident response, and provide 24/7 SOC support to thousands of Darktrace customers around the globe. Inside the SOC is exclusively authored by these experts, providing analysis of cyber incidents and threat trends, based on real-world experience in the field.
Written by
Carlos Gray
Senior Product Marketing Manager, Email
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19
Apr 2023

With the widespread adoption of cloud email services, security vendors are collaborating with cloud providers to offer faster and more seamless ways of rolling out security solutions like API-driven one-click deployment. These new methods of deployment can install in seconds, reduce the risk of email disruption and scale without any additional configurations.  

Third-party SEGs (Secure Email Gateways) traditionally provided the foundation for email security and operations, operating via an on-premises or virtual appliance or a cloud service. SEGs process and screen all email traffic according to a set of pre-defined rules to protect against phishing attacks. In order to implement, these solutions require organizations to reroute their mail exchange (MX) record to direct emails towards the SEG.

In recent years Microsoft and Google have leveled up their security significantly, making valuable extensions to foundational email security. However, it is just that, foundational. The current email threat landscape has led to more sophisticated malware delivery techniques and social engineering tactics, creating demand for advanced email security solutions that can collaborate with native vendors and combine diverse approaches to provide in-depth defense – for example, the established partnership between Darktrace and Microsoft. Indeed, Gartner reported that the industry is moving towards a combination of native provider security and API-based vendors, allowing for full-breadth coverage of the variety of use cases.

API-driven deployment  

With cloud email services now ubiquitous for almost every business, it makes sense for email security vendors to leverage these cloud services for deployment. Because these products co-exist with, rather than replace, the in-built security of cloud email, they don’t require rerouting the domain name services mail exchanger (DNS MX) record. Instead, vendors can offer seamless delivery of their products by using APIs, which integrate fully via cloud applications without affecting the email delivery path – making installation and uninstallation straightforward while offering uninterrupted workflows.  

And communication doesn’t stop at email; in the world of hybrid work, email is just one of the tools employees use to connect and send sensitive information. APIs allow security solutions to integrate with other collaboration tools – including Microsoft Teams, Slack, Salesforce and Dropbox – to allow for full visibility of an organization beyond just the inbox.

API + Journaling  

While APIs are unmistakably the future of deployment, they can also be easily augmented. That’s where API+Journaling comes in. Where API-only analyzes emails after they have passed through initial cloud security, and has the ability to quarantine or return them to the inbox post-delivery, API with added journaling in Microsoft 365 takes the raw email data before it enters the inbox to analyze in parallel with the provider’s native security.  

As both scenarios take place at machine speed the difference is often imperceptible, but there can be instances where API-only is marginally slower – in certain cases even a second can be detrimental when dealing with such a critical communication platform as email. For these organizations, journaling reduces latency to ensure best in class detection speeds, as much as 30 times faster than API-only.

Diagram infographic depicting the workflow of a sent email after the deployment of Darktrace.
Figure 1: Darktrace deploys in parallel, without any changes to the delivery path and no risk of operational outage

Darktrace/Email: Flexible Deployment to Suit You  

In a crowded market for ICES vendors, those who can offer flexible deployment will remain ahead of the game. Organizations should be able to choose from speedy deployment using API-only, or longer deployment with journaling – with the option to deploy via cloud or on-premise.  

Darktrace/Email offers the best of both worlds – giving customers the choice of deployment via API or API+Journaling in Microsoft 365 to meet their organization’s needs. Equally, they can choose to deploy fully via cloud or fully on premise, whichever best suits their team setup. Either way, there’s no change to the email path. With 1-click deployment that installs in seconds, or 5-minute deployment with added journaling – it can scale from just a handful of inboxes to tens of thousands, without any re-routing or additional configurations aside from accepting permissions.

Diagram infographic illustrating the quick installation of Darktrace via API.
Figure 2: 1-Click deployment installs in seconds via API, with advanced API+Journaling options for reduced latency.

Added features increase the efficiency of workflows to benefit teams – such as the ability to recuperate a delivered message from a user’s inbox post-delivery, whether it is in bulk or a single email. Seamless integration within the email application creates an intuitive user experience, introducing non-invasive banners and simple AI analysis inside the inbox.  

Security teams can also get a clearer picture of how effective their current email solution is, as emails aren’t stopped by the SEG before reaching the provider – allowing for improved visibility from first deployment.  

Darktrace works with email providers to take advantage of their native security and combine it with our Self-Learning AI, offering flexibility without compromising on speed of deployment. This approach enhances detection by leveraging the same API connections to gather additional context from other SaaS applications like Microsoft Teams and SharePoint – hardening defenses across the organization.

Inside the SOC
Darktrace cyber analysts are world-class experts in threat intelligence, threat hunting and incident response, and provide 24/7 SOC support to thousands of Darktrace customers around the globe. Inside the SOC is exclusively authored by these experts, providing analysis of cyber incidents and threat trends, based on real-world experience in the field.
Written by
Carlos Gray
Senior Product Marketing Manager, Email

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June 18, 2025

Darktrace Collaborates with Microsoft: Unifying Email Security with a Shared Vision

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In today’s threat landscape, email remains the most targeted vector for cyberattacks. Organizations require not only multi-layered defenses but also advanced, integrated systems that work collaboratively to proactively mitigate threats before they cause damage

That’s why we’re proud to announce a new integration between Darktrace / EMAIL and Microsoft Defender for Office 365, delivering a Unified Quarantine experience that empowers security teams with seamless visibility, control, and response across both platforms.

This announcement builds on a strong and growing collaboration. In 2024, Darktrace was honored as Microsoft UK Partner of the Year and recognized as a Security Trailblazer at the annual Microsoft Security 20/20 Awards, a testament to our shared commitment to innovation and customer-centric security.

A Shared Mission: Stopping Threats at Machine Speed

This integration is more than a technical milestone,as it’s a reflection of a shared mission: to protect organizations from both known and unknown threats, with efficiency, accuracy, and transparency.

  • Microsoft Defender for Office 365 delivers a comprehensive security framework that safeguards Microsoft 365 email and collaboration workloads leveraging advanced AI, global threat intelligence and information on known attack infrastructure.
  • Darktrace / EMAIL complements this with Self-Learning AI that understands the unique communication patterns within each organization, detecting subtle anomalies that evade traditional detection methods.

Together, we’re delivering multi-layered, adaptive protection that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

“Our integration with Microsoft gives security teams the tools they need to act faster and more precisely to detect and respond to threats,” said Jill Popelka, CEO of Darktrace. “Together, we’re strengthening defenses where it matters most to our customers: at the inbox.”

Unified Quarantine: One View, Total Clarity

The new Unified Quarantine experience gives customers a single pane of glass to view and manage email threatsregardless of which product took action. This means:

  • Faster investigations with consolidated visibility
  • Clear attribution of actions and outcomes across both platforms
  • Streamlined workflows for security teams managing complex environments

“This integration is a testament to the power of combining Microsoft’s global threat intelligence with Darktrace’s unique ability to understand the ‘self’ of an organization,” said Jack Stockdale, CTO of Darktrace. “Together, we’re delivering a new standard in proactive, adaptive email security.”

A New Era of Collaborative Cyber Defense

This collaboration represents a broader shift in cybersecurity: from siloed tools to integrated ecosystems. As attackers become more sophisticated, defenders must move faster, smarter, and in unison.

Through this integration, Darktrace and Microsoft establish a new standard for collaboration between native and third-party security solutions, enhancing not only threat detection but also comprehensive understanding and proactive measures against threats.

We’re excited to bring this innovation to our customers and continue building a future where AI and human expertise collaborate to secure the enterprise.

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Carlos Gray
Senior Product Marketing Manager, Email

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June 19, 2025

Customer Case Study: Leading Petrochemical Manufacturer

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Headquartered in Saudi Arabia, this industry leading petrochemical manufacturer serves customers in more than 80 countries across diverse markets throughout Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, China, and Southeast Asia.

Cyber resiliency critical to growth strategy

This leading petrochemical manufacturer’s vision is to be one of the major global players in the production and marketing of designated petrochemicals and downstream products. The company aims to significantly increase its capacity to up to a million metric tons within the next few years.

With cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure increasing 30% globally last year, cyber resiliency is essential to supporting the company’s strategic business goals of:

  • Maximizing production through efficient asset utilization
  • Maximizing sales by conducting 90% of its business outside Saudi Arabia
  • Optimizing resources and processes by integrating with UN Global Compact principles for sustainability and efficiency
  • Growing its business portfolio by engaging in joint ventures to diversify production and add value to the economy

However, the industry leader faced several challenges in its drive to fortify its cybersecurity defenses.

Visibility gaps delay response time

The company’s existing security setup provided limited visibility to the in-house security team, hindering its ability to detect anomalous network and user activity in real time. This resulted in delayed responses to potential incidents, making proactive issue resolution difficult and any remediation in the event of a successful attack costly and time-consuming.

Manual detection drains resources

Without automated detection and response capabilities, the organization’s security team had to manually monitor for suspicious activity – a time-consuming and inefficient approach that strained resources and left the organization vulnerable. This made it difficult for the team to stay current with training or acquire new skills and certifications, which are core to the ethos of both the company’s owners and the team itself.

Cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure increasing

The petrochemical manufacturer is part of a broader ecosystem of companies, making the protection of its supply chain – both upstream and downstream – critical. With several manufacturing entities and multiple locations, the customer’s internal structure is complex and challenging to secure. As cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure escalate, it needed a more comprehensive approach to safeguard its business and the wider ecosystem.

Keeping and growing skills and focus in-house

To strengthen its cybersecurity strategy, the company considered two options:

  1. Make a significant initial and ongoing investment in a Security Operations Center (SOC), which would involve skills development outside the company and substantial management overhead.
  2. Use a combination of new, automated tools and an outsourced Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service to reduce the burden on internal security specialists and allow the company to invest in upskilling its staff so they can focus on more strategic tasks.

Faced with this choice between entirely outsourcing security and augmenting the security team with new capabilities, the customer chose the second option, selecting Darktrace to automate the company’s monitoring, detection, and response. Today, the petrochemical manufacturer is using:

Extending the SOC with 24/7 expert support

To alleviate the burden on its lean security team, the company augmented its in-house capabilities with Darktrace’s Managed Detection & Response service. This support acts as an extension of its SOC, providing 24/7 monitoring, investigation, and escalation of high-priority threats. With Darktrace’s global SOC managing alert triage and autonomously containing threats, the organization’s internal team can focus on strategic initiatives. The result is a stronger security posture and increased capacity to proactively address evolving cyber risks – without expanding headcount or sacrificing visibility.

A unique approach to AI

In its search for a new security platform, the company’s Director of Information Technology said Darktrace’s autonomous response capability, coupled with Self-Learning AI-driven threat reduction, were two big reasons for selecting Darktrace over competing products and services.

AI was a huge factor – no one else was doing what Darktrace was doing with [AI].”

Demonstrated visibility

Before Darktrace, the customer had no visibility into the network activity to and from remote worker devices. Some employees need the ability to connect to its networks at any time and from any location, including the Director of Information Technology. The trial deployment of Darktrace / ENDPOINT was a success and gave the team peace of mind that, no matter the location or device, high-value remote workers were protected by Darktrace.

Modular architecture  

Darktrace's modular architecture allowed the company to deploy security controls across its complex, multi-entity environment. The company’s different locations run on segregated networks but are still interconnected and need to be protected. Darktrace / NETWORK provides a unified view and coordinated security response across the organization’s entire network infrastructure, including endpoint devices.

Results

The petrochemical manufacturer is using Darktrace across all of its locations and has achieved total visibility across network and user activity. “Darktrace is increasing in value every day,” said the Director of Information Technology.

I don’t have a big team, and Darktrace makes our lives very, very easy, not least the automation of some of the tasks that require constant manual review.”

Time savings frees analysts to focus on proactive security

Darktrace / NETWORK provides continuous, AI-driven monitoring and analysis of the company’s network activity, user behavior, and threat patterns, establishing a baseline of what normal activity looks like, and then alerting analysts to any deviations from normal traffic, activity, and behaviors. Darktrace’s autonomous response capabilities speed up response to detected threats, meaning intervention from the security team is required for fewer incidents and alerts.

In October 2024 alone, Darktrace Cyber AI Analyst saved the team 810 investigation hours, and autonomously responded to 180 anomalous behaviors that were uncovered during the investigations. With Darktrace managing the majority of threat detection and response efforts, the security team has been able to change its day-to-day activity from manual review of traffic and alerts and belated response to activity, to proactively fortifying its detection and response posture and upskilling to meet evolving requirements.  

Layered email protection reduces phishing threats

The company’s email infrastructure posed a challenge due to petrochemical industry regulations requiring on-premises email servers, with some security delivered via Microsoft Azure. By integrating Darktrace / EMAIL into the Azure stack, the organization has reduced the volume of phishing emails its users receive by 5%.

“Now we have one more layer of security related to email – every email goes through two filters. If something is not being caught or traced by Azure, it is being detected by Darktrace,” said the Director of Information Technology. “As a result, we’re now seeing only about 15% to 20% of the phishing emails we used to receive before implementing Darktrace.”

Preparing for a secure future

The time saved using Darktrace has helped the security team take proactive steps, including preparing for new cyber resilience regulations for Saudi Arabia’s Critical National Infrastructure, as mandated by the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA).

“The team now has ample time to prepare policies and procedures that meet the new NCA regulations and, in some cases, enhance the requirements of the new law,” said the Director of Information Technology. “All of this is possible because they don’t need to keep watch; Darktrace takes on so much of that task for them.”

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