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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.

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Instructor-led training

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

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E-learning

Access a rich library of technology and certification training, study bundles, practice exams, simulators, and more.

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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