Email security is a pain, and manual quarantine management is one of the main reasons. If you’re tired of sifting through endless spam folders, or you’re always fielding requests to release “urgent” messages, this guide is for you. We’ll walk through how to automate quarantine and release workflows in Emailguard, so your team spends less time babysitting email and more time actually doing their jobs.
This article is aimed at admins or IT folks who want practical, reliable automation—without turning their inbox into the Wild West.
Why Automate Quarantine and Release in Emailguard?
Email quarantine is necessary, but let’s be honest—manual review just doesn’t scale. Here’s what automation can actually fix:
- Faster response: Clean mail gets through quicker, users aren’t waiting hours (or days) for releases.
- Less grunt work: You won’t spend your mornings digging through junk just to find that one invoice.
- Consistent enforcement: No more “I forgot to check the quarantine” excuses.
- Fewer mistakes: Automation doesn’t get bored or click the wrong button.
But it’s not all sunshine. If you automate carelessly, you could let bad stuff slip through. The trick is to set up guardrails—something we’ll cover in detail.
Step 1: Get Clear on What You Actually Want
Before you start clicking around in Emailguard, ask yourself:
- Who needs what? Do you want to automate for everyone, or just a few high-volume groups?
- What types of messages should be quarantined? (Spam, phishing, bulk, unknown senders, etc.)
- Who’s allowed to release messages? End users? Only admins?
- Are there legal/compliance reasons to keep some stuff locked down?
There’s no one right answer. Some teams want users to self-release anything except malware. Others don’t trust anyone and want all releases logged. Write down your must-haves before you start building rules. It’ll save you a world of pain later.
Step 2: Map Out the Workflow
Let’s break down the moving parts. Here’s what you’ll need to decide:
- Trigger: What causes a message to be quarantined or released?
- Conditions: What criteria should trigger an automatic action? (Sender, recipient, message type, etc.)
- Actions: What actually happens? (Release, delete, escalate, notify)
- Notifications: Who gets told, and when?
It helps to sketch this out—pen and paper, a whiteboard, whatever. If you can’t explain it to a non-techie, it’s probably too complicated.
Pro tip: Start simple. You can always add complexity later.
Step 3: Configure Quarantine Policies in Emailguard
Now let’s get our hands dirty. Log in to your Emailguard admin portal.
a. Audit Your Current Policies
- Go to Protection > Quarantine Policies.
- Review what’s already set up. Is everything being quarantined that should be? Are some rules overzealous?
- Look for:
- Outdated rules (old domains, former employees)
- Overlapping policies (two rules doing the same thing)
- Gaps (types of threats not covered)
Don’t just trust the defaults. Vendors love broad settings that “cover everything,” but they can bury legit mail or let risky messages through.
b. Set Up New or Updated Policies
- Click Create Policy (or Edit for an existing one).
- Choose message types: Spam, phishing, malware, bulk, etc.
- Set conditions: Sender, domain, user group, etc.
- Decide on quarantine action: Quarantine, notify admins, auto-delete (be careful here).
- Save and name your policy clearly.
Honest take: Most organizations over-quarantine early on. Start with tighter rules and loosen up once you see what’s actually being caught.
Step 4: Automate Release Workflows
Here’s where the magic (and risk) happens. Emailguard supports a few ways to automate releases:
a. End-User Self-Release
- Under Quarantine Settings, enable “Allow user self-release.”
- Decide which users or groups get this right.
- Set thresholds—maybe users can only release messages marked as spam, but not phishing or malware.
Good for: Cutting down admin requests, letting people get their own mail.
Watch out: Users sometimes click “release” on anything, even obvious scams. Don’t enable self-release for high-risk categories unless you trust your users.
b. Automatic Release Based on Rules
If you want to let certain types of messages through automatically after a review period:
- Go to Automations (or similar—names vary by version).
- Create a rule: “If message is quarantined for X hours and not flagged as malware, auto-release.”
- Add exceptions for sensitive accounts or domains.
Good for: Reducing bottlenecks for routine bulk mail or newsletters.
Watch out: Don’t auto-release anything flagged as phishing or malware, no matter how impatient your users get.
c. Admin Approval Workflows
- Set up an approval chain: Only admins (or a security team) can review and release certain messages.
- Configure Notifications so the right people get pinged when something needs review.
Good for: Organizations with high compliance needs, legal requirements, or lots of sensitive data.
Drawback: Slower for end users—but safer overall.
Step 5: Set Up Notifications and Logging
Automation without visibility is a recipe for trouble. Make sure you:
- Enable logging for all automated releases and quarantines.
- Set up email alerts for failed releases or suspicious patterns (e.g., tons of releases from one user).
- Regularly review logs—don’t just set and forget.
Pro tip: Most incidents don’t happen because a tool failed. They happen because no one was watching. Build notification reviews into your routine.
Step 6: Test Everything—Then Test Again
Don’t trust a new rule until you’ve seen it work.
- Run sample messages through your new policies. Use test accounts and common scenarios.
- Check the logs: Did the right messages get quarantined? Were releases recorded correctly?
- Ask a few end users to try the self-release or notification workflow. Can they follow it without pestering you?
If something’s unclear or clunky, fix it now—not when you’re fighting a real incident.
What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)
Let’s cut through the hype:
- Self-release is great—if your users aren’t habitually clicking on anything with a discount code.
- Auto-release is risky unless you’re only using it for the lowest-risk categories (like obvious newsletters).
- Admin approval is slow, but safe—best for sensitive data or if you’ve had issues with users releasing bad mail.
- Default policies are rarely perfect. Vendors err on the side of caution, which means more manual work for you. Customize to fit your actual risks and workflow.
Ignore “set it and forget it” promises. Email threats change fast. Check your policies every quarter at a minimum.
Keeping It Simple (and Safe)
Automation should make your life easier—not create new headaches. Start with the basics:
- Map out your needs before you build automations.
- Use self-release and auto-release with clear limits.
- Keep notifications and logs tight, and actually review them.
- Don’t be afraid to tweak and improve as you go.
You can always add more sophistication later. The best workflows are the ones you actually use, not the ones that look fancy in a demo. Get the basics right, keep your users informed, and let the robots handle the boring stuff—while you keep it all under control.