OIT recently deployed Abnormal Security to supplement Microsoft Defender for Office 365, our primary email security (anti-spam) application. Utilizing artificial intelligence as part of the criteria to determine if a message is malicious, these applications help to eliminate emails that are unsolicited or contain threats to data security. With assistance from our end users, the AI learns to correctly identify suspicious messages by the act of users dragging and dropping false positive spam from Junk to Inbox, or vice versa for any unsolicited or unwanted messages. Other methods of strengthening the results include using the Report Message button in Outlook or forwarding messages to spam@smu.edu. Continue reading AI for Your Inbox? Improving Incoming Emails Being Marked as Junk
Tag: Phishing
Abnormal Email Security to Replace Armorblox
As the Armorblox email security application has been discontinued, OIT will be replacing it with Abnormal Email Security to supplement our Microsoft Defender spam filter. Abnormal utilizes artificial intelligence to find and eliminate emails that contain threats to data security. We intend to turn on Abnormal Security on Thursday, January 18.
What does this switch mean to you? Thankfully, reporting spam still works exactly the same! You can still use the Report Message button in Outlook, move messages to your Junk E-Mail folder, or forward messages to spam@smu.edu.
As always, while our filtering eliminates the vast majority of spam and malicious e-mails, it’s always important to stay vigilant when opening messages that may be suspicious. When in doubt, let us know!
Guidance for Third Parties Sending Email Using an SMU Address
SMU now requires authorization for campus partners who wish to send emails impersonating an smu.edu domain. This requirement helps us prevent malicious senders from spoofing SMU addresses while attempting to send phishing emails or malware to our campus or outside entities.
Due to recent changes, some senders may be encountering delivery issues that did not occur previously. It is likely that previously unauthorized senders’ messages are now being Continue reading Guidance for Third Parties Sending Email Using an SMU Address
Microsoft Defender to Begin Filtering Spam This Summer
As one of the final steps in our cloud email migration project, OIT will soon retire our legacy Cisco IronPort spam filtering and replace it with Microsoft’s Defender spam filtering service. While providing better real-time spam filtering and detection using artificial intelligence, this transition also means new ways of managing your spam quarantine. Keep reading to find out more! Continue reading Microsoft Defender to Begin Filtering Spam This Summer
Phishing Email Simulations Return After Hiatus
Phishing attempts—those pesky emails that try to lure you into revealing personal info like passwords and financial information—are constantly evolving to thwart the University’s effort to stop them. While users only receive a small percentage of these emails in their inboxes, it takes one wrong click to start off a chain of new attempts.
For several years, SMU has worked to make our community more aware of these phishing attempts by sending simulated phishing emails. While we all have had to pivot and change our routines over the past couple of years, it was decided it was best not to add one more thing to everyone’s plate, so we took a break from the simulation. Yet, with the recent influx of successful phishing messages, the OIT Information Security Team will relaunch the simulated phishing email campaign in the coming weeks. Continue reading Phishing Email Simulations Return After Hiatus
