Posts filed under 'How We Test'

How SE Labs tests and scores email security services

Email security services can do a lot to protect users from online threats. This also means a lot can go wrong too. Testing and scoring these services requires a lot of attention to detail and a scoring method that takes into account all of the possible outcomes, including unexpected ones.

Learn:

• How email security services work
• How you should use them
• Why we score services the way we do

SE Labs announces comparative breach response testing

The next phase in our Breach Response test is to start comparing products. There has been high demand for comparative testing since we first proposed our Breach Response test back in 2016. Clients really want to see breach response products compared.

Comparing products in the Breach Response test

For the last few years our Breach Response reports have been of standalone products.

The first milestone is this summer, when we will be running a private comparative test of products. Comparatives in this space are few and far between. Good ones are even rarer. Therefore we have taken very prudent steps towards this goal over the last couple of years. We plan to publish a public comparative report in the first half of 2022.

London, UK, 27th May 2021

SE Labs is holding its annual security conference on the 27th May, 2021

Email security services protection

This year’s focus is email security and the services that claim to provide protection against email threats. Delegates will discuss the latest threat intelligence about email threats. Attendees, including all of the main email security companies, will also examine past, present and next-generation testing methods.

Together we hope to advance the testing of email security like never before.

The world of cyber security sales is unclear at best

The secret world of cyber security sales is fascinating. And shady. If you ever wondered how they sell security, and how we buy it, we have a treat for you.

Our security reports help you choose the best anti-malware solutions for your organisation and your family. These latest lab results look at how the most popular products handle the threats everyone faces on a daily basis, as well as the sort of targeted attack you hope never to encounter (but might).

ENDPOINT PROTECTION: NEW REPORTS ONLINE!

“You’re thinking: How much truth is in that report?”

DE:CODED is the official podcast from SE Labs.

Or play all Series 1 episodes here | and on YouTube

🥇 Winner of the Best Up & Coming Podcast 2021 award 🥇

Show notes for series 1, episode 5

Companies spend trillions on cyber security each year. But how do they decide which products and services are the best?

Understand what a real hacking attack looks like to the attacker and defenders

The IT security world is rocked by news of breach after breach, including the shocking disclosure of the SolarWinds attack. Data is stolen, deleted or corrupted and… well you know. It’s a total mess. Journalists focus on basic outcomes, while technical blogs look at esoteric technical details. We’ve explained, in laymen’s terms, what a breach looks like from an attacker’s point of view. And from the position of the defenders.

Supporting open standards testing for firewalls and other network security devices

SE Labs has joined forces with testing standards organisation NetSecOPEN, aiming to improve the network appliance testing market. The result will be more accurate reports containing genuinely useful data.

SE Labs joins NetSecOPEN

SE Labs has always supported transparent, repeatable, standards-based testing of security products. By being the first mainstream security testing organisation to join NetSecOPEN, we are demonstrating our commitment to that purpose across all of our testing.

And how can you tell?

If you are in charge of protecting an organisation, you need good data to help make buying decisions. The consequences of simply trusting internet reviews, vendor sales pitches and instinct are extremely serious. So which security product tests are the best?

This article first appeared on LinkedIn (17th November, 2020)

And we’re really quite proud about it!

Our tests are so close to real-life hacking that sometimes there is no practical difference between the two. We don’t usually expect to interact directly with cyber criminals, but it sometimes happens. In this case, our attacker was rude enough to spoil our initial analysis and to leave a sexually aggressive message for our team, too. SE Labs has been hacked!

For immediate context, if you’ve never heard of SE Labs before, we are a computer security testing organisation. We expose our test systems to all manner of horrible software and people, to judge how effectively different security products work. No customer data was lost in this story!

How fast is your firewall? And does it still protect your business when it’s busy?

SE Labs has launched its network security performance testing service. Our reports will answer questions like, “How fast is this NGFW, really?” And, “How well does it protect, even when it’s very busy?”

We have worked with the major global vendors in this area for over a year, identifying and addressing gaps in existing network performance testing. We’ve focussed on ensuring that these new tests from SE Labs are fair, honest, reliable and accurate.

These tests are the first of a new breed.