Changes that aim to provide the best user experience with email now are here. Last month, Information Security announced in UNMC Today and Nebraska Medicine NOW that these next steps in email security were coming.
What’s changing?
Users no longer see a banner referring to emails they receive from users outside of Nebraska Medicine and UNMC that are not currently DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance) compliant. DMARC is an industry-standard email authentication tool that helps protect emails from being spoofed or used fraudulently.
Instead, a new system will be in place soon to help users interact with the quarantined emails they receive.
The UNMC and Nebraska Medicine Information Security team uses Proofpoint, which helps safeguard these types of non-compliant DMARC emails, and will be replaced by new tools, Valimail and Abnormal Security, between June 6-12.
What is going away on June 12?
- The User Digest received in users’ email no longer will be needed, so this means no more trying to sift through it to locate potentially legitimate emails. These emails will be delivered to a new Promotions Folder in users’ email mailbox, as shown in the example below.
- Proofpoint Browser Isolation will be replaced by Abnormal Security technology.
- If users need to change the delivery of emails from the Promotions Folder to the Inbox, a simple click will move it to the inbox. Abnormal Security remembers that preference — giving users even more control over how their inbox behaves. As a result, service tickets no longer need to be submitted for this or for low priority bulk email to allow list requests.
Benefits of Valimail and Abnormal Security
- Messages identified as promotional are directed to the user’s Promotion’s Email folder within Microsoft 365, leveraging the native quarantine and spam controls, which reduces the need for a separate daily digest.
- More precise detection, and users experience less email clutter and fewer manual actions.
- Abnormal Security allows users to influence its detection capabilities by reporting emails they consider suspicious. This is primarily facilitated through its AI Security Mailbox, which integrates with existing email platforms like Microsoft 365.
After June 6, when a user marks an email as suspicious or reports it (by using the “Report Phishing” button in Microsoft Outlook), Abnormal Security’s AI Security Mailbox processes that. It offers:
- AI analysis: The system autonomously inspects and classifies the reported email as malicious, spam or safe.
- Automated response: Abnormal provides automated feedback to the reporting user. This not only informs the user but also enhances their understanding of potential threats.