This is not a simple process, however, and an incorrect configuration could cause email delivery issues.

If you’re a system administrator, you can also use mail flow controls to require the use of TLS encryption when exchanging email with other specific organizations. Run by SecureMail, LLC, the site also pitches various security services like EmailSentry, an Outlook plugin that makes email security information more accessible. The CheckTLS website is a popular, free tool you can use to check your company’s support for TLS. Obviously, this process could be simpler. Somewhere in the header, you should see “TLS” or a TLS version identifier, like “TLS1.2” or “TLS1.3.” If you see this, TLS was used to secure this message. To make it easier to review, you can copy it into a new Notepad or text file, where you can use a “Find” tool to search through it. In both cases, you will be presented with the raw email message header, which includes a lot of information and can be daunting. In Microsoft 365, you click the three dots at the top right of the message window: In Outlook, you need to open the message in a new window by double-clicking the message in the inbox list, then open the “File” menu and select “Properties.” Microsoft’s design is not quite as simple as Google’s, and is different depending on which version you’re using: either the locally installed Outlook application or the web-based Microsoft 365 interface. How do you check for TLS encryption in Outlook?Īs with Google’s Gmail service, you can see if an Outlook message was encrypted by reviewing the email header. If a recipient is using an email service provider that does not support TLS, the encryption is removed and the message is delivered in plain text-making it easy for malicious parties to intercept it. However, even though this means that email sent and received via Outlook can be encrypted, it doesn’t mean email is encrypted. (Paubox supports both TLS 1.2 and 1.3, per NSA guidelines).

Microsoft’s email application, Outlook, does support TLS, and in March, Microsoft began requiring TLS version 1.2, and dropping support of TLS 1.0 and 1.1. The Microsoft Office Suite, and its online counterpart Microsoft 365, is the most popular collection of software tools for businesses (though Google’s offering is proving to be a fierce competitor in the cloud space). We’ve covered different ways to check your email setup for TLS support, including checking for TLS encryption in Google’s email services. Email can be intercepted, creating a potential HIPAA violation for covered entities.Įmail can be protected via encryption, most commonly using an industry standard called Transport Layer Security (TLS). Attacks like ransomware are increasingly common. How to check if Outlook Is using TLS encryption by Ryan OzawaĮmail is a popular target for hackers because every email account is a potentially vulnerable endpoint that can be compromised.

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