Darktrace vs Abnormal

Darktrace is built on over a decade of AI innovation. 



See for yourself why we’ve taken email security by storm
and why our customers swear by us.

Why organizations choose ‍Darktrace over Abnormal

Fastest growing email security

Accumulating ~5,000 customers of every shape and size in 5 years

200+ patents

Persistent AI innovation keeps us and you ahead of the threat landscape

Proven ransomware solution

GigaOm Ransomware Prevention V3 “Leader” and “Outperformer”, 2025

Recognized by analysts

Darktrace is a leading vendor in Email Security Platforms, and Network Detection and Response. And from cloud, to OT, we just do so much more.

#1 in customer satisfaction

Recognized as a Customers’ Choice by Gartner, Darktrace empowers organizations with AI-driven cybersecurity. empowers organisations with AI-driven cybersecurity.

Compare Darktrace vs Abnormal

See how Darktrace protects enterprises better and faster

ABNORMAL

AI Approach  
(Behavioral Intelligence)

Self-learning AI, continuously models user and organizational behavior to detect anomalies without retraining. Detects novel threats on Day Zero.

Attack-centric, retrains NLP models after attacks occur. Also uses synthetic attack data augmentation, not purely real-world threats.
(Source)

Cross-Domain Analysis  

Native integration across email, network, SaaS, and endpoint, enabling correlated detection and response.
(See the benefits of natively combining network and email security)

Email focused-only, lacks visibility beyond inbox and relevant accounts

(see full product suite)

Architecture

API + Journaling or API –only (customer choice). Journaling ensures resilience and near real-time detection, up to 30x faster triage time than API-only.

API-only, introducing latency and lacking Microsoft SLA guarantees.

(Source)

DLP

Native, AI-driven DLP combining behavioral understanding, PII analysis, and optional Microsoft Purview label ingestion. Detects human-error use cases that static labeling misses.

Only covers misdirected recipients natively or requires external Forcepoint DLP, dependent on imported sensitivity labels, making it ineffective for unlabeled or misclassified data.
(Source)

Vendor Intelligence  

Global Domain Threat Intelligence: Aggregates behavioral patterns of domains across Darktrace’s global fleet. Intelligence does not expire and does not rely on compromised customers, enabling proactive detection of vendor compromise and supply-chain abuse.

VendorBase: A static list of compromised vendors (Visit the VendorBase resource page), useful only for a brief period after an attack is reported by a compromised customer or their supply chain.

Customer Base

~6,000+ EMAIL customers as of September 2025 (part of 10,000+ global Darktrace deployments).

~2,400 customers as of August 2024, last publicly available data.
(Source)

Account Takeover Protection

Native detection included in / EMAIL license; response actions available via add-on module. Detects anomalies beyond suspicious log-ins, correlating data across email, SaaS, and network.

Add-on module with Limited visibility based on static rules around sign-in activity.
(Source)

Messaging Security  

Complete message analysis: headers, body, attachments, URLs, and behavioral context.

URL-focused, leaving gaps in attachment and body content analysis. “Abnormal leverages autonomous AI, scanning for malicious links in message threads, groups, and chats.”
(Source)

DMARC Support

 

Yes – Darktrace offers a dedicated DMARC module with guided setup, continuous monitoring, and global domain analysis (Darktrace DMARC spec).

No native DMARC offering (see full product suite)

10,000

Darktrace customers

Real customers, real results

Watch this summarized BEC incident that led one customer to
switch to Darktrace full time.

Customer story

How Aviso Improved their security posture with Darktrace

“Darktrace is detecting 100% more critical incidents on the network and more than twice as many potentially malicious emails versus our previous solutions. Not only is Aviso far more secure, but we are also more efficient – that’s a lot of incidents we don’t have to review manually, and a lot of emails people don’t have to read”

–George Ho | SVP and Chief Digital & Technology Officer | Aviso

10x

incident response acceleration with Cyber AI Analyst

17%

Darktrace / EMAIL catches the 17% of 
threats missed by Secure Email Gateways

70%

more malicious phishing links discovered by Darktrace / EMAIL’s Mailbox Security Assistant

Trusted by top
Industry analysts

  • “Market Leader” and “Outperformer” in GigaOm’s Radar for NDR, 2025.
  • “Market Leader” and “Outperformer” in GigaOm’s Radar for Anti-Phishing, 2024
  • “Market Leader” and “Outperformer” in GigaOm’s Radar for Ransomware Prevention, 2025
  • “Market Leader” in GigaOm’s Radar for OT, 2024
  • “Market Leader” and “Outperformer” in GigaOm’s Radar for Ransomware Prevention, 2024
  • “Overall Leader” and “Market Leader” in KuppingerCole’s Leadership Compass for ASM, 2023

ROI Calculator

Calculate your
potential ROI

Discover the ROI potential you could achieve with Darktrace / EMAIL, alongside powerful security benefits.

A representation of Darktrace's ROI Calculator

Frequently asked questions

Does Darktrace provide account takeover protection? 

Yes. Darktrace includes autonomous response actions—such as holding, retracting, and disabling malicious content—as part of its standard protection. These actions can be customized to fit your organization’s policies, with advanced modules available for complex workflows.

Is journaling slower or riskier than API-only integration? 

No. Darktrace supports both journaling and API integrations. In fact, combining API with journaling can deliver up to 30x faster detectionand response compared to API-only (source), while improving reliability and resilience against throttling

Does Darktrace offer global threat intelligence? 

Absolutely. Darktrace’s Global Domain Threat Intelligence provides real-time, contextualized insights based on billions of signals worldwide. It adapts to your unique environment, enabling proactive defense against emerging threats.

Is false positive reporting manual through Microsoft or other platforms?

No. Darktrace / EMAIL natively monitors internal-to-internal email flows, and can detect lateral phishing, insider threats, and compromised accounts without requiring additional network tools.

Do I need an additional module or product to monitor internal email traffic? 

No. Darktrace manages false positive reporting directly in its own UI. Advanced feedback loops allow analysts and end-users to report and resolve issues quickly, improving detection accuracy over time.

Ready to see why Darktrace / EMAIL is the clear choice over Abnormal?

Book a demo today and see how Darktrace stops email threats before they escalate.