Email remains the number one threat vector in today’s cyber landscape, responsible for more than 90% of successful cyberattacks. As the volume and sophistication of email threats grow, security operations center (SOC) teams are under constant pressure to investigate and respond to incidents more quickly. Even with strong detection, the sheer number of alerts and investigation steps can slow down response times and strain already limited resources—leading to fatigue and increasing the risk of missed threats.
Proofpoint is changing that.
We’re excited to introduce Proofpoint Threat Protection Workbench—a modern analyst console included with your Core Email Protection solution. It helps SOC teams accelerate threat investigations and remediation of email-borne threats, all in one easy-to-use interface. By consolidating Proofpoint Nexus insights, message and sender analysis and remediation actions into one experience, we give SOC teams deeper visibility as well as the ability to detect and respond faster—all from a single pane of glass.
Designed for the modern SOC
For existing Core Email Protection customers, Threat Protection Workbench is a new approach to how SOC teams operate. From the moment of log in, they’re met with an analyst-friendly and intuitive UI that’s tailored to their daily responsibilities. Whether they’re responding to a high-risk phishing alert, evaluating a suspicious sender or investigating a broader threat campaign, everything they need is available in one unified view.
Threat Protection Workbench delivers these benefits:
- Streamlined investigations. With all relevant data and remediation actions in one place, analysts can speedily investigate threats, make decisions and take action.
- Faster incident response. Analysts can rapidly identify malicious threats, reducing response times to security incidents.
- Smarter decisions. With behavioral insights, threat intelligence and sender analysis all surfaced in context, analysts can quickly understand the threat and respond with confidence.
Investigating a suspicious email threat
It’s Monday morning, and a SOC analyst gets an alert: an executive assistant at the company reported a missing email from a known supplier. Normally, this would be a routine check. The analyst suspects that the message may have been quarantined and needs to find out whether it’s a false positive or something more serious.
The analyst logs into Threat Protection Workbench and begins the investigation.
Step 1: Quick search and discovery
Using the search bar, the analyst enters the sender and recipient details, looks up the message in question and notices that the message is blocked. One click opens the Message Details view, and immediately red flags start to appear.
The reply-to address is “quantumlleap.com”—with two l’s. It’s a subtle lookalike domain that’s easy to miss. The body of the message includes a link that’s already been flagged as malicious by Proofpoint Nexus. This isn’t just a delayed email—it’s a potential compromise.
A consolidated message view in Proofpoint Threat Protection Workbench.
Step 2: Enhanced AI-powered insights
Next, the analyst scrolls down to Nexus Insights. Immediately, Proofpoint’s comprehensive threat intelligence platform powered by AI, machine learning and real-time intelligence surfaces the tactics behind the attack. A manipulated reply-to address, a newly registered domain from China and suspicious sending patterns.
But what stands out most? A clear, easy to understand summary powered by Nexus Generative AI. In just a few lines, it tells the analyst everything that they need to know. It’s a credential phishing attempt targeting internal users.
A Proofpoint Nexus threat intelligence view in Proofpoint Threat Protection Workbench.
Step 3: Fast in-depth analysis
From the same screen, the analyst drills into the Threat Details view. The verdict is clear. Credential phishing, medium severity, with two users attempting to click, but blocked at the browser.
There’s no need to guess what the attack was trying to do. And if more analysis is needed, the analyst can open the link safely in Browser Isolation—no risk to their system or the corporate network.
A detailed threat analysis view in Proofpoint Threat Protection Workbench.
Step 4: Rapid threat confirmation
To close the loop, the analyst clicks into the Sender Analysis tab. Here, it all comes together. Proofpoint highlights the lookalike domain, quantumlleap.com, and compares it to the legitimate supplier domain. Not only is the domain a near match—it was also registered only recently, a common sign of malicious intent. The console shows past interactions from both domains, so that the analyst can see which are trusted and which are suspicious. There’s clear evidence of account impersonation, and the timeline of domain activity supports that conclusion.
A sender investigation view in Proofpoint Threat Protection Workbench.
Step 5: Instant action
Now that the analyst has everything they need, it’s time to act. And unlike other tools, there’s no need to swivel to another console or wait on another team.
From the same unified view, analysts can take one-click remediation actions, including:
- Block a look-alike domain from future delivery
- Add a malicious URL to a block list
- Add a malicious file hash to a block list
- Submit a false negative for further analysis
Threat remediation actions view in Proofpoint Threat Protection Workbench.
Less effort, more insight, real results
This is what modern security operations should be.
Threat Protection Workbench enables quicker, easier investigations and faster remediation with:
- Integrated search and alert-based workflows
- 50% fewer clicks to conduct and complete an investigation
- 90% less time to summarize threat intel using Nexus Generative AI
Everything happens within one streamlined SOC experience. No more pivoting. No more guesswork. Just faster outcomes.
Whether you’re a current Proofpoint customer or evaluating Core Email Protection, Threat Protection Workbench showcases how we continue to evolve with the needs of modern SOC teams.
To learn more about how Proofpoint Core Email Protection protects your people and business, download the solution brief.
