---
description: Learn about email protocol security gaps.
title: What is Email security?
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/og-docs.png
---

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# What is Email security?

Last updated Aug 24, 2026|Copy as Markdown|[View as Markdown](https://docs-durable-objects-instance-replaced-errors.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/learning-paths/secure-your-email/concepts/what-is-email-security/index.md)|[Agent setup](https://docs-durable-objects-instance-replaced-errors.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/agent-setup/)

Despite email's importance as a communication method, security and privacy were not built into the [The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) protocol ↗](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/email-security/what-is-smtp/). As a result, email is a major attack vector.

Email security is the process of preventing [email-based ↗](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/email-security/what-is-email/) cyber attacks and unwanted communications. It spans protecting inboxes from takeover, protecting domains from [spoofing ↗](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/what-is-domain-spoofing/), stopping [phishing attacks ↗](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/access-management/phishing-attack/), preventing fraud, blocking [malware ↗](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/malware/) delivery, and filtering [spam ↗](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/email-security/how-to-stop-spam-emails/).

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