Allies in Cybersecurity: How Mailprotector Empowers IT Partners
David Setzer, Founder and CEO of Mailprotector
In today’s threat-filled digital landscape, email is the most popular method for conducting phishing attacks—a battle David Setzer, founder and CEO of Mailprotector, has been fighting for over two decades.
David started Mailprotector in 2002, long before hackers monetized malware and ransomware. “Back then, most of the problem was spam,” he explained. “You could send a million messages for virtually nothing. In the ’90s, viruses were prevalent, but that was more about nefarious programmers trying to prove something.”
David entered the war on cyberattacks after bringing his family’s business online in the late 1990s. Realizing other small businesses needed similar resources, he founded Virtual Connect Technologies to build custom extranets.
“In 2002, we noticed we were spending a lot of time on email security,” David said. “We thought, ‘What if we put an interface on this and sell it?’ That was the genesis of Mailprotector.”
Today, Mailprotector designs innovative products to help organizations secure email. “Mailprotector exists to unleash email as the revolutionary communication tool it was meant to be so that people can use their God-given talents to move our world forward,” David explained.
Mailprotector’s winning formula includes:
Cutting-Edge Products
- Bracket: An encryption product that is easier to use and more secure and helps partners generate leads and save margin. Mailprotector holds four patents on this technology.
- Shield: Launched in the spring of 2024, this groundbreaking product applies the concept of zero-trust to email, eliminating unwanted messages like phishing emails. Described as “noise-canceling headphones for your inbox,” Shield has already proven highly effective, with David reporting zero phishing messages in his inbox since deploying it internally in October 2023.
For a decade, David and Mailprotector’s CTO Ben Hathaway explored the ideas that led to Shield. While email was revolutionary in the 1970s on trusted closed networks, the shift to open networks in the 1990s introduced issues as protocols assumed all users were trustworthy. Mailprotector spent two and a half years developing Shield to reverse this assumption, treating all email as potentially malicious.
A Partner-Centric Approach
As a partner-only company, Mailprotector is deeply committed to supporting and empowering managed service providers (MSPs).
“The Channel is not just about how we market; it’s how we think about everything we do,” David said. “We design for the end user for security and for the MSP for management.” This dedication to the Channel has earned Mailprotector numerous accolades, including Winner of Best Software Solution at ChannelPro 2023.
Empowering Through Partnership
Mailprotector’s commitment to MSPs extends beyond just providing top-notch email security solutions. The company actively engages with partners at various levels, recognizing that they, too, were once the “little guy.” However, they also seek out partners with business sophistication, which is where their partnership with Technology Marketing Toolkit (TMT) comes in.
“What we find with TMT is that the partners understand that they need business and sales, and especially marketing knowledge,” David explained. “The MSP partners TMT brings to the table are implementing specific sales and marketing strategies as a process rather than a spray-and-pray approach. We really like that about TMT.”
Nurturing Partner Relationships
Mailprotector sponsors several TMT events, including the annual IT Sales and Marketing Bootcamp and Roadshows. These provide valuable opportunities to connect with prospective and existing MSP partners.
“We are deeply ingrained in the partner community, with many partners bringing people to talk to us at events,” David said. “We proactively reach out to our partners ahead of events. While always eager to engage new partners, we prioritize connecting with existing ones, having account managers sit down for meals with partners to strengthen relationships.”
Focusing On Superior Service And Responsiveness
Exceptional service is paramount for Mailprotector. They staff their team with people like VP of Partner Success, Mark Glowacz, a former MSP himself, who can relate to and understand MSPs’ needs. “We focus heavily on UI [user interface] and UX [user experience],” David noted. “Partners favor Mailprotector because of our service team and how our product functions. When talking with MSP peers, [partners] eagerly introduce them to us at TMT events to share their positive experiences.”
Mailprotector actively involves partners via a Partner Advisory Council, beta group, and feedback system to stay highly responsive to their needs and the evolving threat landscape.
“We’re battling bad actors trying to win, so we must be quick to adapt,” David emphasized. “We rapidly change products based on specific partner input. For example, we deployed QR code phishing defenses in Shield within six hours of recognizing the threat’s emergence.”
Continuing To Do What Works
Mailprotector’s eight-year partnership with Technology Marketing Toolkit has been instrumental in helping them reach and support their ideal MSP partners.
“We started working with Technology Marketing Toolkit because of their community and their focus on helping partners grow their business,” David explained. “It’s something we philosophically align with. The results speak for themselves. TMT still brings a lot of value to us. That’s why we’re still working together. We love the relationship and the results, so we plan to continue to keep doing what’s working.”
As Mailprotector continues to innovate and empower MSPs with cutting-edge email security solutions, thriving partnerships remain a key pillar of their success. By working together to support and grow the Channel community, Mailprotector and their partners are helping to create a safer, more productive digital world—one email at a time.
Request a demo of Mailprotector here
Read the full issue of IT Channel Insider here
