Microsoft Junk Mail Filter

Our current email filter has reached the end of its life and we are needing to move on. We are migrating to Microsoft's Spam Protection. This is built into the email you already use so you don't need to make any change for this to start working.

People who have been moved to the new filter have already seen a decrease in the number of spam emails reaching their inbox. When Microsoft finds an email that could be malicious it will take one of the following actions. Move it to Junk Email, or quarantine.

You can find the Junk Email folder in your Outlook, both on the website and in the desktop and mobile applications. It is usually located near your Inbox, Sent Items, or Outbox on the left sidebar of your mailbox.

No spam filter is perfect. Sometimes a legitimate email may get caught and moved to your Junk. We recommend checking your Junk Email folder occasionally, or when you're expecting an email that has not arrived. Do be cautious about these emails as the filter is correct more often than not.

Outlook Desktop:

1. Find the email in your Junk Email folder
2. Right-click the email
3. Under Junk, choose Not Junk

   Windows	MacOS

4. This will move the email to your Inbox

Outlook Website:

1. Find the email in your Junk Email folder
2. Right-click the email
3. Under Report, choose Not Junk
   
   
4. This will move the email to your Inbox

Outlook Mobile:

1. Find the email in your Junk Email folder
2. Open the email

   Android	iOS

3. Tap the three-dot icon along the top of the screen for more options, tap Not Junk

   Android	iOS

4. This will move the email to your Inbox

Again, no spam filter is perfect. Microsoft can miss emerging threats as they come out. If you suspect a bad email in your inbox you can do the following to take immediate action:

Outlook Desktop:

1. Find the email in your Inbox
2. Right-click the email
3. Under Junk, choose "Block Sender"

   Windows	MacOS

4. This will block the sender and move this email to your Junk Email folder

Outlook Website:

1. Find the email in your Inbox

2. Right-click the email
3. Under Report, choose either Report Junk or Report Phishing. Whichever applies to this email
   
4. This will block the sender and move this email to your Junk Email folder

Outlook Mobile:

1. Find the email in your Inbox
2. Open the email

   Android	iOS

3. Tap the three-dot icon along the top of the screen for more options, tap Report Junk

   Android	iOS

4. Select either Junk or Phishing as appropriate

   Android	iOS

5. This will move the email to your Junk Email folder

These steps will notify us that the email is suspicious, move the email and any others from this sender to your Junk Email, and if found to be malicious will remove the email from other users accounts to protect them from falling for it.

Going forward, if you want to report an email as malicious you can use the instructions above. Contacting Information Security directly is still an option, however it should be reserved for more in-depth questions or concerns. The "Phish Alert" button in your Outlook will work for the time being, however going forward we suggest using the instructions above as it actively protects you and your colleagues.

If something is seen as exceptionally bad by our filters it will be moved to a location outside of your inbox called the Quarantine. Currently access to this is restricted to IT as these emails often contain known Malware or Advanced Phishing attempts. We have set our filters to be as lenient as possible so that anything less than graymail can be found in your Junk Folder for your own review. If you believe you are missing an important email and cannot find it in your Junk Email or Inbox please reach out to Information Security, we'll look through your Quarantine and let you know if it's there and release it for you.

Part of the new Spam Protection suite includes link protection. When you click an email in our Outlook it will quietly check if the link is known to be malicious. If the link is safe it will load as normal, if it is seen as malicious you will receive a blocked site.