The best email security for UAE companies in 2027

Email is still the way most attacks reach a UAE business. A message that looks like it comes from your CEO or a supplier asks finance to change bank details. A fake Microsoft 365 login page, hidden behind a QR code, captures a password. An attachment installs malware. Criminals send mail as your own domain to your clients, or from a lookalike domain that nobody notices on a phone.

The receiving side has changed too. Gmail asks every sender for SPF or DKIM, and since February 2024 domains sending more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail need SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Outlook.com applied similar rules to high-volume senders from May 2025. A domain without them loses mail to spam folders.

Most UAE companies do not need more email security products. They need the protection they already pay for switched on, tuned and watched.

Prices as of October 2026 · per user per month · billed annually (annual upfront commitment) · exclude 5% VAT. Microsoft list prices converted to AED at our fixed rate; your quote confirms the final price. Mimecast and Proofpoint are licensed per user, typically per year, and quoted for your requirement. Full comparison: Mimecast vs Proofpoint vs Defender for Office 365.

Every Microsoft 365 mailbox already has anti-spam, anti-malware and spoofing protection. Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 adds Safe Links, Safe Attachments and impersonation protection, and covers files in Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive as well as email. It needs no MX change, and alerts sit in the same Microsoft Defender portal as device alerts from Defender for Business. Plan 2, in E5, adds Threat Explorer, automated investigation and response, and attack simulation training for companies with someone to use them.

For many UAE companies under 300 users on Business Premium or E3, Plan 1 is enough once SPF, DKIM and DMARC are in place. The work is configuration, not another licence. See Microsoft 365 in the UAE.

Mimecast is a separate system in front of your mail. Deployed as an MX gateway, it keeps users sending and receiving when Microsoft 365 or Exchange is down, and it keeps an independent, searchable archive with retention and eDiscovery. It suits firms targeted by invoice fraud or CEO impersonation, companies that must keep email for years, and groups running Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and on-premise Exchange together. If you need continuity, choose the gateway: the API model does not offer it.

Proofpoint completed its acquisition of Hornetsecurity in December 2025, so it now has two routes. Core Email Protection serves larger organisations with a security team, with add-ons such as Email Fraud Defense and Account Takeover Protection. 365 Total Protection gives small and mid-sized Microsoft 365 firms filtering, encryption, archiving, continuity, Microsoft 365 backup, DMARC management and awareness training in one subscription.

A Microsoft 365 tenant created in the UAE stores its data, such as mailbox content, in Microsoft's UAE data centres. For Microsoft's full commitment that data at rest stays in the UAE, including Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 and built-in mail protection data, the tenant needs Microsoft's Advanced Data Residency licence, with an add-on for every paid licence in the tenant. Proofpoint hosts customer data in its own cloud data centres, and we confirm the hosting locations for your subscription with Proofpoint in writing. If your compliance team has a rule about where email data must be stored, give it to us before you choose: your compliance team decides, and we configure to match.

1. 1

   Check what you already own

   your Microsoft 365 plans, any Defender add-ons and the archive you must keep.

2. 2

   Protect your domain first

   publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC and read the reports until every real sender is known. Our guide explains how: five checks that stop spoofed email from your domain.

3. 3

   Switch on and tune Defender

   anti-phishing and impersonation policies, Safe Links, Safe Attachments, external-sender warnings and blocked auto-forwarding.

4. 4

   Add a gateway only for a gap

   Mimecast or Proofpoint when you need an archive, continuity, a second detection layer or cover for non-Microsoft mail, with both layers configured so mail is not held twice.

5. 5

   Train people and watch the quarantine

   phishing simulations for the staff who handle payments, then regular review of what was blocked. See security awareness training.

Licences are one part of the cost. Deployment and security configuration, migration of an old archive, training and support are separate pieces of work. Mimecast archive imports are charged separately. Our managed security service covers email security and quarantine monitoring, release requests, policy changes and a quarterly review, Sunday to Friday, 8:30 am to 6:00 pm GST, quoted per user. An initial check of what is publicly visible about your domain, such as SPF, DKIM and DMARC, is free.

Gulf Infotech is a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Modern Work and also deploys and supports Mimecast and Proofpoint, so we recommend the option that fits your mail flow. Gulf Infotech has had an office in Dubai since 2012, and companies across all seven emirates work with it, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. See cybersecurity in the UAE.