Recently I reported a phishing email. It is rare when a phishing email actually lands in my Inbox these days but when it does it means that it slipped by the robot army and we need to report it for analysis and learning. This is why we provide you with the Report Message add-in in Outlook. Here’s what happens when you use it.
This is a peak behind the scenes into our admin portal. Looking at the left-hand column of the image below, we see that Amy reported an email she received on February 16th. The email was immediately removed from her Inbox and put into her Deleted items folder. This is part that you see when you report a bad email. The rest of the story happens behind the scenes. Let me explain.
From here our robot army takes over. The reported email is sent to a secure location, scanned, analyzed and detonated. That last word means that the link was clicked or in this case, the attachment was opened in a secure isolated environment. If it is verified that the file contained malware, or the link went to a criminal organization there to steal information from you, then Microsoft’s robot army reaches into your mailbox and the mailbox of anyone else in the world that received that email message and removes it from their mailbox.
Looking at the left-hand column in the figure above, we see that on February 17th, this is exactly what happened. The email was removed from Amy and Ted’s mailbox. At that time, it resided in Amy’s deleted items folder and in Ted’s inbox – now it is gone completely so that it is unable to accidentally be clicked on by either person and email is a safe place again.
Please use that Report Message add-in, in Outlook. It really does help keep not just you, but everyone in your company and even your neighbor more secure.
Harbor Computer Services is an IT firm servicing Southeastern Michigan and beyond. We work exclusively under contract with our clients to provide technology direction and either become the IT department or provide assistance to the internal IT they already have. We win awards! Recently we were recognized in the gratitude category for our corporate culture by dBusiness magazine.
There are a few simple things that make Harbor Computer Services the best choice for your business. •We are Professionals •We are Responsible •We care about your business
