Email is still the number one data loss vector. Not because security teams ignore it, but because it's genuinely hard. A mistyped address, an autocomplete mistake, a disgruntled employee forwarding a customer list. These aren't exotic attack chains. They're Tuesday.
The DLP category has matured a lot in the last few years. The old approach was keyword matching and block lists. Blunt instruments that generated so many false positives that analysts started ignoring them. The newer generation uses behavioral AI, relationship mapping, and point-of-send intervention to catch the actual risky sends without destroying user productivity. That shift matters.
This roundup covers seven tools across the email DLP spectrum. Some are full-platform plays with unified policy management across channels. Some are lightweight Outlook add-ins that solve one problem well. One is purpose-built for data residency compliance. The right choice depends on your environment, your threat model, and honestly, how much friction your users will tolerate before they start finding workarounds.
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Forcepoint Email DLP sits inside the broader Forcepoint Data Security platform, and that context is the whole point. If you're already running Forcepoint for web or endpoint DLP, adding email coverage through the same management console is a genuinely compelling proposition. You get consistent policy enforcement across channels without maintaining separate rule sets in separate tools. That unified console is the differentiator here, not the email scanning itself.
The agentless deployment model means you're not pushing software to every mail client. Forcepoint integrates at the infrastructure level with Microsoft Exchange and Gmail for Business, which keeps the deployment footprint small and avoids the compatibility headaches that come with add-in-based approaches. The vendor claims policy configuration and publishing in under five minutes, which is plausible for incremental changes once the platform is established, though initial policy design will take longer.
The hybrid deployment option is worth noting for organizations with data sovereignty requirements. You can keep sensitive policy logic and data on-premises while routing through cloud infrastructure where appropriate. This matters in regulated industries where data residency isn't optional.
The trade-off is that Forcepoint Email DLP is not a standalone purchase that makes sense in isolation. Its value compounds when you're invested in the Forcepoint ecosystem. If you're running a different endpoint DLP or web proxy, the unified console argument evaporates and you're paying for email scanning that other tools in this list do with more behavioral depth. Evaluate it as part of a platform decision, not a point solution.
KnowBe4 Prevent Intelligent Data Loss Prevention
KnowBe4 Prevent takes a different philosophical stance than most DLP tools. Instead of silently blocking or quarantining emails, it intervenes at the point of send with contextual warnings that give users a chance to correct their own mistakes. The behavioral AI learns how each individual employee communicates, which recipients they regularly contact, which file types they typically attach. When something deviates from that baseline, the system flags it before the send button does anything.
This approach directly addresses the false positive problem that kills DLP adoption. Relationship mapping means the system knows that a finance analyst regularly emails the external auditor, so attaching a spreadsheet to that address doesn't trigger an alert. The same attachment going to an unfamiliar external domain does. That context-awareness is what separates behavioral DLP from legacy keyword matching.
KnowBe4 Prevent is a Microsoft 365 native play. It integrates with Outlook, Azure Information Protection, and the M365 ecosystem. If your organization is standardized on M365, the deployment story is clean. If you're running Google Workspace or a hybrid mail environment, this is not the tool for you. The cloud-only deployment model also means your email metadata and behavioral data lives in KnowBe4's infrastructure, which is a consideration for organizations with strict data handling requirements.
The information barrier enforcement capability is worth calling out for financial services and legal firms where Chinese walls between departments are a regulatory requirement, not just a best practice. The self-learning model also means the system gets more accurate over time, which reduces the operational burden on security teams who don't have cycles to tune rules manually.
Egress Prevent
Egress Prevent is one of the more technically sophisticated tools in this category. The combination of contextual machine learning, relationship mapping, and Bayesian inference gives it a multi-layered approach to risk scoring that goes beyond simple content inspection. Bayesian models update continuously as new data comes in, meaning the system's risk assessments improve with every email processed. That's a meaningful advantage over static rule-based systems that require manual tuning.
The Microsoft ecosystem integration is deep. Egress Prevent works across Outlook desktop, Outlook Web Access, and mobile via add-ins, and it integrates with Azure Information Protection to enforce sensitivity labels. The Microsoft Purview integration means it can respect existing classification policies rather than requiring you to rebuild your taxonomy inside Egress. For organizations that have already invested in Purview labeling, this is a significant time saver.
Egress also integrates with its own Defend (inbound) and Protect (encryption) products, which creates a coherent outbound security story if you want to consolidate email security vendors. The hybrid deployment option gives flexibility for organizations that can't go fully cloud. Active Directory and ADFS integration means user provisioning and policy scoping can tie directly to your existing identity infrastructure.
The anti-phishing display name and domain analysis feature is an interesting addition for an outbound DLP tool. It suggests Egress is thinking about the full email risk surface, not just data leaving the organization. The analytics dashboard showing user risk scores and prompt acceptance rates is genuinely useful for security teams trying to identify repeat offenders or departments that need additional training. The trade-off is complexity. This is not a tool you configure in an afternoon.
INKY Outbound Mail Protection
INKY Outbound Mail Protection is best understood as a module within INKY's broader Behavioral Email Security Platform rather than a standalone DLP product. If you're already using INKY for inbound threat protection, adding outbound coverage is a logical extension that keeps your email security stack consolidated. The platform approach means inbound and outbound policies share the same administrative interface and the same behavioral analysis engine.
The integration coverage is broader than most tools in this list. INKY supports Microsoft 365, Exchange, and Google Workspace, which makes it one of the few options here that works equally well in M365 and Google environments. For organizations running Google Workspace who want behavioral email DLP, the options are limited and INKY is worth a serious look.
The honest assessment is that INKY Outbound Mail Protection has a thinner feature set compared to dedicated outbound DLP tools like Egress Prevent or KnowBe4 Prevent. The database description doesn't surface relationship mapping, Bayesian inference, or information barrier enforcement. What it does offer is solid outbound monitoring, sensitive data detection, and insider threat alerting within a platform that also handles inbound threats. For organizations that want one vendor for the full email security picture rather than best-of-breed point solutions, that trade-off is reasonable.
If your primary concern is sophisticated misdirected email detection with behavioral AI, you'll find more depth elsewhere. If you want outbound DLP as part of a unified email security platform that also covers phishing and BEC, INKY's bundled approach makes operational sense.
VIPRE SafeSend
VIPRE SafeSend is the most focused tool in this roundup. It does one thing: it stops users from sending emails to the wrong people or with the wrong attachments. No behavioral AI, no relationship mapping, no information barriers. Just a pre-send confirmation workflow that forces users to consciously verify external recipients and attachments before the email goes out. For a large percentage of data loss incidents, that friction is enough.
The on-premises, Outlook add-in architecture is both a strength and a constraint. Group Policy-based configuration means IT can deploy and manage SafeSend through existing Windows infrastructure without learning a new management platform. Per-group policy settings let you apply stricter controls to high-risk departments like finance or HR without burdening everyone else. The SIEM integration via Windows Event Log means you can pull audit data into Splunk, QRadar, or whatever you're running without a custom connector.
The 30-language localization is a practical detail that matters for multinational organizations. Most security tools treat localization as an afterthought. SafeSend's availability on Azure Marketplace also simplifies procurement for organizations already buying through that channel.
The limitation is scope. SafeSend is Outlook-only and on-premises. If your organization uses Google Workspace, this isn't an option. If you're fully cloud-native on M365, the on-premises deployment model adds infrastructure overhead. And if your threat model includes intentional exfiltration by determined insiders, a confirmation dialog isn't going to stop them. SafeSend is the right tool for organizations where accidental data loss is the primary concern and where simplicity and low cost matter more than behavioral analytics.
InCountry Email
InCountry Email solves a problem that most DLP tools don't even attempt to address: data residency compliance for email. The core mechanism is tokenization. Your application sends emails with placeholder tokens instead of actual personal data. InCountry Email intercepts those emails, replaces the tokens with real data inside the recipient's country, and delivers via a local SMTP server. The personal data never crosses a border in plaintext. That's a genuinely different architecture from every other tool in this list.
This is purpose-built for organizations operating under strict data localization laws like Russia's Federal Law 242-FZ, China's PIPL, or similar regulations that require personal data to be stored and processed within national borders. If you're a global SaaS company sending transactional emails to users in regulated jurisdictions, InCountry Email addresses a compliance gap that traditional DLP tools simply don't cover. Traditional DLP is about preventing unauthorized disclosure. InCountry Email is about ensuring authorized disclosure happens in the right geography.
The integration story is minimal by design. It slots into your existing email sending configuration via SMTP with no infrastructure changes required. That simplicity is appropriate for what it does. The operational overhead is low once the tokenization integration is built on the sending application side.
The current limitation of a single TO recipient per email is a real constraint for bulk notification use cases and needs to be factored into any evaluation. CC and BCC support is on the roadmap but not available. This tool is not a general-purpose DLP solution and shouldn't be evaluated as one. It's a compliance infrastructure component for a specific regulatory problem. If data residency is your concern, it's worth a close look. If your concern is misdirected emails or insider exfiltration, look elsewhere.
689Cloud SecureMail
689Cloud SecureMail approaches email DLP from the attachment control angle using Information Rights Management. Rather than scanning outbound emails and blocking sends, it replaces attachments with secure links backed by persistent access controls. The key word is persistent. Even after a file is downloaded to a recipient's device, you can revoke access. That's a fundamentally different security model from traditional DLP, which loses control of data the moment it leaves your perimeter.
The feature set is dense for an add-in. Remote revocation, expiry dates, dynamic watermarking, 2FA for document access, copy/paste blocking for Office files, and print control including virtual PDF printing. For organizations sharing sensitive documents with external parties, law firms, investment banks, consulting firms, this level of control over shared files is genuinely useful. The full access audit trail covering online views, downloads, and local device openings gives you forensic visibility that most email DLP tools don't provide post-delivery.
The Gmail and Outlook support means this works in both major email environments, which is a practical advantage. Availability through both the Chrome Web Store and Microsoft AppSource simplifies deployment for end users.
The trade-off is that this tool doesn't prevent data loss at the point of send. It doesn't detect misdirected emails or scan content for PII. If a user sends a secure link to the wrong person, you can revoke access after the fact, but the send still happened. SecureMail is a complement to outbound DLP, not a replacement. Pair it with a tool that catches misdirected sends, and you have a more complete story. On its own, it's best suited for organizations whose primary concern is controlling what recipients do with files after delivery.
How to Choose the Right Tool
Email DLP is not a one-size-fits-all category. The right tool depends on your threat model, your email platform, your regulatory environment, and how much behavioral change you're willing to impose on users. Here are the questions that actually matter when you're evaluating these tools.
Email platform compatibility first. Several tools in this list are Microsoft 365 native and won't work in Google Workspace. KnowBe4 Prevent is M365-only. VIPRE SafeSend is Outlook-only and on-premises. INKY and 689Cloud SecureMail support both M365 and Google Workspace. Confirm platform support before you go any further in an evaluation.
Accidental loss versus intentional exfiltration. If your primary concern is misdirected emails and autocomplete errors, a point-of-send confirmation tool like VIPRE SafeSend or a behavioral AI tool like KnowBe4 Prevent or Egress Prevent is the right fit. If you're worried about a determined insider deliberately exfiltrating data, you need content inspection, policy enforcement, and audit trails, not just a confirmation dialog.
Behavioral AI versus rule-based detection. Legacy keyword and regex matching generates false positives that burn out analysts and get ignored. Behavioral tools like KnowBe4 Prevent and Egress Prevent learn individual communication patterns and flag deviations. That context-awareness dramatically reduces noise. The trade-off is that behavioral models need time to learn and may miss threats in the first few weeks of deployment.
Platform consolidation versus point solution. Forcepoint Email DLP only makes sense if you're already in the Forcepoint ecosystem. INKY Outbound Mail Protection is most valuable if you're using INKY for inbound protection. If you're building a best-of-breed stack, evaluate each tool on its own merits. If you want to reduce vendor count, look at tools that cover multiple email security functions.
Data residency and regulatory requirements. If you operate in jurisdictions with data localization laws, InCountry Email addresses a compliance requirement that no other tool in this list covers. Traditional DLP tools prevent unauthorized disclosure. They don't ensure that authorized disclosure happens within the correct geographic boundary. These are different problems.
Deployment model and infrastructure fit. VIPRE SafeSend is on-premises only. KnowBe4 Prevent and INKY are cloud-only. Forcepoint and Egress Prevent support hybrid deployments. If your organization has data sovereignty requirements or can't route email through third-party cloud infrastructure, your deployment options are constrained from the start.
Post-delivery control requirements. If your concern extends beyond preventing the send to controlling what recipients do with files after delivery, 689Cloud SecureMail's IRM approach provides persistent access control, revocation, and audit trails that outbound DLP tools don't offer. This is particularly relevant for organizations sharing sensitive documents with external counsel, auditors, or partners.
Operational overhead and alert fatigue. A DLP tool that generates hundreds of alerts per day that nobody acts on is worse than no tool. Evaluate how each tool handles false positive reduction. Relationship mapping and behavioral baselines are the key mechanisms. Ask vendors for real-world false positive rates from comparable deployments, not just marketing claims.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between email DLP and email encryption?
Email DLP controls what data leaves your organization and to whom. Encryption protects data in transit so it can't be read if intercepted. They solve different problems and most mature email security programs use both. Some tools in this list, like Forcepoint and 689Cloud SecureMail, incorporate encryption capabilities alongside DLP controls.
Can email DLP tools stop a determined malicious insider?
They make it harder, but a determined insider with legitimate access will find ways around most controls. DLP tools are most effective at catching accidental data loss and opportunistic exfiltration. For insider threat programs targeting determined adversaries, you need DLP as one layer alongside user behavior analytics, privileged access controls, and endpoint monitoring.
How do behavioral AI email DLP tools handle new employees who don't have an established communication baseline?
Most behavioral tools apply more conservative default policies during a learning period, typically a few weeks, before the model has enough data to establish a reliable baseline. During this period, expect more alerts and more friction. KnowBe4 Prevent and Egress Prevent both use self-learning models that improve over time.
Do these tools work with Google Workspace or just Microsoft 365?
Several tools in this list are Microsoft 365 native only, including KnowBe4 Prevent and VIPRE SafeSend. INKY Outbound Mail Protection and 689Cloud SecureMail support both M365 and Google Workspace. Always confirm platform compatibility before starting a proof of concept.
What's the right approach for organizations with data residency requirements in multiple countries?
InCountry Email is the only tool in this roundup specifically designed for data localization compliance. It uses tokenization to ensure personal data is only substituted in plaintext within the recipient's country. Standard outbound DLP tools don't address geographic data residency requirements.
Should email DLP be a standalone tool or part of a broader DLP platform?
It depends on your existing stack. If you already have endpoint or web DLP from a vendor like Forcepoint, extending to email through the same platform gives you consistent policy management and reduces operational overhead. If you're starting fresh or have a best-of-breed philosophy, a dedicated email DLP tool often provides more depth for the specific problem.
Conclusion
Email DLP is not a solved problem, but the tools have gotten meaningfully better. The shift from keyword matching to behavioral AI has reduced false positives enough that security teams can actually act on alerts. The point-of-send intervention model has changed the dynamic from silent blocking to user education, which builds a better security culture over time. The right tool for your organization depends on your email platform, your regulatory environment, and whether your primary concern is accidental loss or intentional exfiltration. Use the criteria above to narrow the field, then run a proof of concept with real email traffic before you commit. Browse the full email security category on CybersecTools at /tools to see additional options, or use the comparison feature at /compare to put two or three of these tools side by side on the dimensions that matter most to your team.
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