Trials and demos
How to buy

Securing Email with Cisco Email Security Appliance (SESA)

The Securing Email with Cisco Email Security Appliance (SESA) training shows you how to deploy and use Cisco® Secure Email Gateway (formally Cisco® Email Security Appliance) to establish protection for your email systems against phishing, business email compromise, and ransomware, and to help streamline email security policy management. This hands-on training provides you with the knowledge and skills to implement, troubleshoot, and administer Cisco Secure Email Gateway, including key capabilities, such as advanced malware protection, spam blocking, anti-virus protection, outbreak filtering, encryption, quarantines, and data loss prevention.

This training prepares you for the Securing the Web with Cisco Web Secure Appliance (300-720 SESA) v1.1 exam. If passed, you earn the Cisco Certified Specialist - Email Content Security certification and satisfy the concentration exam requirement for the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Security certification.

What you need to know

This training prepares you for

300-720 SESA exam

Continuing Education

Earn 24 CE credits towards recertification

Ways to get this training

Cisco U. Learning Path

Follow a guided Learning Path designed for your certification success. Pre- and post-assessments help you skip what you know and focus on what you need to learn.

View Learning Path

Instructor-led training

Join lively classroom-style learning and discussions, online or in person, that are led by Cisco and our Learning Partners.

Register for instructor-led training
Download the course overview (PDF)

    How you'll benefit

    This training will help you:

    • Deploy high-availability email protection against the dynamic, rapidly changing threats affecting your organization
    • Gain leading-edge career skills focused on enterprise security

    Who should enroll

    • Security engineers 
    • Security administrators 
    • Security architects 
    • Operations engineers 
    • Network engineers  
    • Network administrators  
    • Network or security technicians 
    • Network managers 
    • System designers  
    • Cisco integrators and partners

    Technology areas

    • Security

    Objectives

    • Describe and administer the Cisco Secure Email Gateway
    • Control sender and recipient domains
    • Control spam with Talos SenderBase and anti-spam
    • Use anti-virus and outbreak filters
    • Use mail policies
    • Use content filters
    • Use message filters
    • Prevent data loss
    • Perform lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) queries
    • Authenticate simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) sessions
    • Authenticate email
    • Encrypt email
    • Use system quarantines and delivery methods
    • Perform centralized management using clusters
    • Test and troubleshoot

    Prerequisites

    There are no prerequisites for this training. However, the knowledge and skills you are recommended to have before attending this training are:

    • Cisco certification, such as Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) Cybersecurity certification or higher
    • Relevant industry certification, such as (ISC)2, CompTIA Security+, EC-Council, Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC), and ISACA
    • Cisco Networking Academy letter of completion (CCNA® 1 and CCNA 2)
    • Windows expertise, such as Microsoft [Microsoft Specialist, Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA), Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)], and CompTIA (A+, Network+, Server+)
    • Transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) services, including domain name system (DNS), secure shell (SSH), file transfer protocol (FTP), simple network management protocol (SNMP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), and hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS)
    • Experience with IP routing

    Outline

    • Describing the Cisco Email Security Appliance
    • Controlling Sender and Recipient Domains
    • Controlling Spam with Talos SenderBase and Anti-Spam
    • Using Anti-Virus and Outbreak Filters
    • Using Mail Polices
    • Using Content Filters
    • Using Message Filters
    • Preventing Data Loss
    • Using LDAP
    • Describing SMTP Session Authentication
    • Using Email Authentication
    • Using Email Encryption
    • Administering the Cisco Email Security Appliance
    • Using System Quarantines and Delivery Methods
    • Centralizing Management Using Clusters
    • Testing and Troubleshooting

    Lab outline

    • Verify and Test Cisco ESA Configuration
    • Advanced Malware in Attachments (Macro Detection) 
    • Protect Against Malicious or Undesirable URLs Beneath Shortened URLs
    • Protect Against Malicious or Undesirable URLs Inside Attachments
    • Intelligently Handle Unscannable Messages
    • Leverage AMP Cloud Intelligence Via Pre-Classification Enhancement
    • Integrate Cisco ESA with AMP Console
    • Prevent Threats with Anti-Virus Protection
    • Applying Outbreak Filters
    • Configure Attachment Scanning
    • Configure Outbound Data Loss Prevention
    • Integrate Cisco ESA with LDAP and Enable the LDAP Accept Query
    • Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM)
    • Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
    • Forged Email Detection
    • Perform Basic Administration
    • Configure the Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager for Tracking and Reporting