Office365 allows you to send an encrypted email. Encrypted emails are secured in transit and cannot be read by anyone else other than your intended recipient. You may want to encrypt yout email in the following cases:
- When sending a confidential or Personally Identifiable information
- When required by a policy (HIPAA, FERPA, etc)
- You want to ensure the email is encrypted in transit and is only read by your intended recipient
- You want to ensure the email cannot be forwarded to anyone else
You can send an encrypted email to other CBC recipients (employees or students) or external recipients. CBC recipients or external recipients who are also on Office365 are able to seamlessly open encrypted emails without any additional steps. Recipients outside Office365 (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, or other organizations not using Office365) will have to verify their email first before being able to decrypt the email.
How to Send an Encrypted Email
1. Log in with your CBC credentials at https://outlook.office.com/
2. Click "New mail" to start composing a new message
3. Click "Options" in the top menu. Then click the "Encrypt" dropdown button.
4. Select the "Encrypt" option.
4. Your email will now be encrypted. Proceed with composing and sending your email as usual.
Receiving an Encrypted Email
If you receive an encrypted email, you'll know it's encrypted as it will have the following icon in Outlook:
If you're using Outlook on the web, it will have a lock icon:
If you're a CBC employee or a student, the email will be automatically decrypted and you'll be able to read it as you would a normal email. You'll also see a note on the top letting you know this email is encrypted.
If the recipient is external or not on Office365, they will get the following email:
They will have to click "Read the message" and verify their email (either by logging in or sending a one-time code):
Questions?
If you have any questions or run into any issues with encrypted emails, please contact us at tshelp@columbiabasin.edu