Proofpoint on Wednesday announced an upgraded module for its e-mail security appliance that includes policy-based encryption and message content filtering in one product.

The upgraded Proofpoint Secure Messaging software, slated for availability in June, adds Voltage’s identity-based encryption (IBE) technology to the existing content-filtering capabilities, according to company officials. With this addition, Proofpoint’s appliances can automatically encrypt outbound e-mail based on policies set by an organization’s administrators as the messages are leaving the corporate network.

This ability to encrypt at the gateway based on pre-set policies frees a corporation’s users from having to remember which outbound messages need to be encrypted, the company says. With the new module, messages that are encrypted at the desktop can be decrypted at the gateway and inspected against content security policies, then encrypted again before being sent out

By having encryption integrated into the same appliance that performs an organization’s inbound and outbound e-mail content scanning, messages don’t need to be routed among devices, the company says, therefore reducing hardware costs and enhancing performance.

The upgraded module, along with Proofpoint’s other modules such as those for regulatory compliance and digital asset security, can be managed through an integrated console.

Pricing for Proofpoint’s policy-based e-mail encryption software will begin at $20,000.