Things to know about Attachment Defense

Created by Jason Carreiro, Modified on Tue, 10 Dec at 4:25 PM by Yves Lacombe

What is it?


Attachment defense is used to protect email boxes from malicious attachments in emails. By default this option is not enabled and is only available with certain packages. Below is a simple set of instructions on how to enable the feature and how to trust an email address to bypass Attachment Defense.


Note that if you were onboarded by Vircom, we always enable this feature by default.


Attachment defense basically checks proofpoint's existing Antivirus, Proofpoint's attachment reputation analytics and it's existing signature database based on traffic received from multiple sources and for multiple clients.


If you happen to be on the PLUS packages (advanced+, professional+) - the attachments also go through the Supernova Engine which detected advanced BEC threats.


This option doesn't include sandboxing, the feature has it's own toggle.



How do you turn it on?


1- Login to Proofpoint Essentials using the appropriate login portal for your tenant


2- Once logged in select ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT - FEATURES then select the option ENABLE ATTACHMENT DEFENSE.



3- Click SAVE to apply changes.


4- To access the Attachment Defense option click on MALICIOUS CONTENT then ATTACHMENT DEFENSE.



5- By default the Attachment Defense is applied to all inbound emails unless indicated otherwise by adding the users email address in the safe senders list and clicking UPDATE.



6- If you have any questions or concerns please contact our support team at 514-845-8474 or email us at [email protected].