Mailprotector CEO David Setzer on fighting email-based threats
Email is the most popular way to launch phishing attacks, and David Setzer has fought that battle for over two decades. He built Mailprotector around the MSPs who protect their clients.
From spam to phishing
David started Mailprotector in 2002, long before hackers monetized malware and ransomware, when most of the problem was spam. Before that, he founded Virtual Connect Technologies to build custom extranets for small businesses.
"In 2002, we noticed we were spending a lot of time on email security. We thought, 'What if we put an interface on this and sell it?' That was the genesis of Mailprotector."
David Setzer, Founder and CEO, Mailprotector
Two products built differently
- Bracket: encryption that is easier to use and more secure, and helps partners generate leads and save margin. Mailprotector holds four patents on the technology.
- Shield: launched in spring 2024, it applies zero trust to email. David calls it "noise-canceling headphones for your inbox" and reports zero phishing messages in his inbox since deploying it internally in October 2023.
Email protocols were built for trusted, closed networks and still assumed every sender was trustworthy once networks opened in the 1990s. After a decade exploring the idea with CTO Ben Hathaway, Mailprotector spent two and a half years building Shield to treat all email as potentially malicious.
Partner-only, by design
"The Channel is not just about how we market; it's how we think about everything we do. We design for the end user for security and for the MSP for management."
David Setzer
- A Partner Advisory Council, beta group and feedback system shape the products.
- QR code phishing defenses went into Shield within six hours of the threat emerging.
- Support is staffed by people like VP of Partner Success Mark Glowacz, a former MSP.
- Mailprotector won Best Software Solution at ChannelPro 2023.