IronTree has entered a strategic partnership with Sendmarc, the South African cybersecurity email protection and compliance experts, and now the largest email security platform of its kind on the continent.
Both companies have attracted attention for their cybersecurity solutions, with Sendmarc receiving two rounds of funding, first from Kalon Venture Partners, and then Endeavour South Africa 2021, while IronTree was acquired by Metrofile in December of last year.
The strategic partnership agreement means IronTree’s team will complete a tailored training programme to achieve certification and actively pursue an exploding DMARC software market which is expected to grow at 55,5% CAGR in terms of revenue, and a global market forecast to reach $463,5-million by 2025, according to a 360 Research Report published in September 2021. With almost 4,3-billion people using email, and 300-billion emails sent every day, 96% of phishing attacks arrive by email, and 94% of malware attacks occur via email. In summary, email fraud has crippled and embarrassed many businesses.
Sendmarc mitigates a flaw in email design that lets a criminal insert any sender’s address in a forged email, a tactic now widely exploited by criminals. To combat this, two million companies have adopted the global security standard for email, DMARC, which was established a few years ago by a consortium of the world’s largest technology companies to create a global protocol that will end the impersonation problem.
The authors, adopters and enforcers of this standard include Google, Microsoft, Apple, PayPal, Facebook, The US Dept. of Homeland Security, the EU government and many others. This is now stated as global best practice and all domain owners must become compliant to protect the world from phishing and spoofing attacks.
“Brands need to stop email fakery and ensure their brand can be trusted. Sendmarc secures and safeguards email, making sure that only the real thing is received, and by that, we mean any e-mail received is assured to come from the real sender. No one can impersonate you. Sendmarc is helping make the internet safer for everyone and restoring user trust, by helping make the inbox a safer place,” explains Sacha Matulovich, the company’s co-founder and chief strategy officer.
“No matter who you are, be it an individual, business or even government, it is not difficult to get impersonated or ‘spoofed’. However, there’s no reason for this vulnerability to be left unattended, considering the risk to reputation, employees, clients and partners. Organisations need to check, double-check and triple-check they have the right cybersecurity partner, one that evolves with the threats and stays ahead of a sharp and unpredictable risk curve,” explains David Lees, co-founder of IronTree.
“With thousands of clients processing more than 400 million emails per month and servicing 35 JSE-listed companies, Sendmarc is a perfect fit for IronTree. We are aligned in our view of utilising the finest technology and delivering premium service. We want to be available to as many businesses as possible and work with a network of partners who can bring a superior product, with a guarantee, to clients,” he says.
The IronTree SecureIT cybersecurity suite has positioned the company as the experts in virtual private hosting (VPS), backup and disaster recovery, cybercrime and ransomware prevention, and, of great relevance this year, a company’s level of compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). With Sendmarc, the company bolsters its services, closing the net further on cybercrime.