Cloud-based Email Security Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Cloud-based Email Security Market is projected to expand from USD 1.01 Billion in 2025 to USD 1.73 Billion by 2031, reflecting a CAGR of 9.38%. This sector comprises hosted services designed to screen incoming and outgoing communications, neutralizing threats like malware, spam, and phishing before they penetrate corporate networks. Primary growth factors include the widespread implementation of cloud-native office suites and the fundamental transition to remote work models, both of which necessitate scalable protection independent of traditional perimeters. Furthermore, the sheer quantity of automated cyberattacks accelerates the need for powerful filtering tools; for instance, the Anti-Phishing Working Group reported that observed phishing attacks hit 989,123 in the fourth quarter of 2024 alone, emphasizing the urgent requirement for strong defensive measures.

Despite this growth potential, the market faces substantial obstacles related to data sovereignty and privacy compliance. As enterprises roll out cloud security measures globally, maneuvering through a complicated network of international data protection laws introduces integration difficulties and liability concerns. This regulatory fragmentation frequently slows adoption, as multinational companies are required to validate that hosted security vendors adhere to rigorous local jurisdictional standards for data storage and handling. Consequently, these compliance demands complicate the enforcement of standardized security policies across diverse geographic regions.

Market Drivers

The escalating frequency of sophisticated phishing and ransomware campaigns serves as the primary engine driving the Global Cloud-based Email Security Market. Attackers are increasingly exploiting legitimate cloud infrastructure and deploying advanced social engineering tactics to evade conventional Secure Email Gateways (SEGs). This rise in both attack volume and complexity compels organizations to switch from on-premise hardware to agile, cloud-native solutions that offer real-time threat analysis and URL isolation. Highlighting this trend, a December 2024 report by Fortra revealed that phishing campaigns utilizing legitimate Cloudflare domains more than doubled between 2023 and 2024, signaling a critical need for advanced defenses against attacks originating from trusted sources.

A second major driver is the integration of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for advanced threat detection, which is transforming the market as vendors strive to combat AI-generated risks. Modern email security platforms utilize behavioral AI to identify communication anomalies that rule-based systems often overlook, such as subtle signs of business email compromise (BEC). In its "State of AI Cybersecurity 2025" report from March 2025, Darktrace noted that 78% of CISOs surveyed felt AI-powered threats were significantly impacting their organizations. Additionally, the broader digital ecosystem faces rising threats; Cloudflare’s "2024 Year in Review" from January 2025 indicated that malicious bot traffic now constitutes 40% to 60% of global internet traffic, driving the need for the robust, automated filtering provided by integrated cloud email security.

Market Challenges

A major impediment to the growth of the Global Cloud-based Email Security Market is the intricate nature of data sovereignty and privacy compliance. The regulatory environment is highly fragmented, with various nations enforcing strict and often contradictory laws governing data storage locations and handling procedures. This situation presents a formidable barrier for multinational corporations that depend on the borderless capabilities of cloud services. To mitigate liability and ensure compliance with local jurisdictional mandates, companies must undertake rigorous and lengthy legal reviews prior to implementing cloud email solutions, creating integration hurdles that extend procurement cycles and delay the rollout of essential defenses.

This bottleneck is further exacerbated by a significant shortage of available expertise to manage these complex regulatory requirements. According to ISC2 data from 2024, 67% of organizations acknowledged a deficit in cybersecurity personnel. This acute workforce scarcity directly hinders market expansion, as understaffed security teams struggle to handle the added burden of verifying compliance across various regions. As a result, the incapacity to rapidly validate and align cloud-based services with diverse sovereignty regulations slows the overall adoption rate, thereby limiting the market’s potential reach.

Market Trends

The market is being reshaped by the extension of protection to cloud collaboration suites, as attackers increasingly leverage trusted platforms such as Microsoft Teams and SharePoint to circumvent email filters. Security solutions are expanding their scope to stop lateral movement within these applications, where users typically place implicit trust in shared content. This evolution is vital as criminals exploit legitimate services to bypass perimeter defenses; for example, Abnormal Security reported in January 2025 within its review of 2024 milestones that attacks using compromised file-sharing tools to evade authentication surged by 350% year-over-year. In response, vendors are embedding API-based scanning directly into collaboration ecosystems to neutralize threats that originate outside of standard email channels.

Concurrently, the industry is shifting from generic awareness training to Human Risk Management (HRM), a strategy that emphasizes quantifying behavioral vulnerabilities rather than broad education. Organizations are adopting adaptive platforms that scrutinize user interactions to pinpoint high-risk individuals who disproportionately increase the attack surface, allowing for dynamic interventions tailored to specific workforce segments exhibiting negligent behavior. Mimecast’s "The State of Human Risk 2025" report from March 2025 highlights the necessity of this approach, noting that a mere 8% of employees are responsible for 80% of security incidents. By focusing defenses on these outliers, enterprises can effectively reduce risk profiles without imposing unnecessary burdens on the entire organization.

Key Players Profiled in the Cloud-based Email Security Market

• Proofpoint
• IRONSCALES
• ABillionormal Security
• Cisco Secure Email
• Mimecast
• Barracuda Networks
• Microsoft Defender
• Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration
• Fortinet FortiMail
• TitanHQ Limited

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Cloud-based Email Security Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Cloud-based Email Security Market, by Deployment Model:

• Public
• Private
• Hybrid

Cloud-based Email Security Market, by End-user Industry:

• BFSI
• Government
• IT and Telecommunications
• Retail

Cloud-based Email Security Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Cloud-based Email Security Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

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