Microsoft Office 365 Changes - July 12-19, 2020

Here are my picks from last week’s changes in #O365:

• Streamlined File Sharing with Microsoft Teams

  On the surface this doesn’t seem like a big update, but the roadmap entry makes it more clear: they just made it a lot easier to change permissions to a linked file in Teams, which is a huge improvement to the in-meeting experience.

• Add a Custom Logo and Disclaimer to Internal Quarantine Messages

  If you’re sending quarantine alerts to your employees, take an extra security step and enable this new feature. Most companies do this unconsciously, but make sure to use a custom image for the logo, inside your firewall. Doing so adds another layer of protection to defend against phishing attempts because the attackers need inside knowledge of what that file looks like. If your users don’t see that custom image in a quarantine alert, they’ll know it’s a phish.

• Request/Release Workflow for Quarantined Messages

  “…tenant admins will be able to configure end user access to messages quarantined by the Exchange Online Protection (EOP) anti-spam policy. End users will also now have a process to request message release.”

  This sounds great but all I’m saying is to be careful, y’all. In my experience, changes to the quarantine settings are among the most painful for end users in a corporate environment. In the longer term your focus should be in shifting away from the modality of email in general. I would love to talk to you about why it’s the right thing to do, and how to get it done.

That’s it for this week - let me know your thoughts!*

-Joe

* As a Microsoft Partner, I have access to updates like this, and a lot of other information. If there’s anything you need to know about Microsoft, please reach out.