---
title: What is Email security? · Cloudflare Learning Paths
description: Despite email's importance as a communication method, security and
  privacy were not built into the The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
  protocol. As a result, email is a major attack vector.
lastUpdated: 2025-10-27T15:00:52.000Z
chatbotDeprioritize: false
source_url:
  html: https://developers.cloudflare.com/learning-paths/cybersafe/concepts/what-is-email-security/
  md: https://developers.cloudflare.com/learning-paths/cybersafe/concepts/what-is-email-security/index.md
---

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/).
