Microsoft 365 will let users browse their blocked phishing emails

Email warning
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Non-malicious emails are sometimes accidentally marked as phishing messages or spam which is why Microsoft is planning to allow Office 365 users to view and request the release of emails which have been automatically quarantined by the Exchange Online Protection (EOP) filtering stack.

EOP is a cloud-based filtering service that the software giant created to scan for and quarantine spam and emails with malicious attachments so that they don't end up in the Exchange Online inboxes of its users.

In an update to its Microsoft 365 roadmap, the company provided more details on its upcoming Office 365 ATP Request Release workflow, saying:

“We've added a way for end users to triage quarantined phish messages. We understand that managing false positives is important to ensuring email is delivered appropriately, and in the past, end users weren't granted access to the quarantine to view messages. We've introduced an option to grant end users read-only access to the quarantine to view quarantined messages and request that an admin release messages to the inbox.”

Phishing emails

Microsoft plans to roll out its new Office 365 ATP Request Release workflow this month and the new capability will be generally available to all customers with an Advanced Threat Protection plan in all Office 365 environments.

The software giant is also working on improving Office 365 ATP Threat Explorer's ability to distinguish between malicious, phishing and spam emails beginning in Q4 of this year.

At the same time, Microsoft is planning to give organizations the ability to allow emails containing malicious URLs or attachments to reach the mailboxes of their employees in order to run training sessions or simulations through Office 365's new Tenant Allow/Block list portal.

Tackling phishing and spam is clearly a high priority for Microsoft and by allowing users to look through their blocked phishing emails, the company will likely improve its ability to determine whether or not the emails EOP automatically blocks are actually legitimate messages.

Via BleepingComputer

Anthony Spadafora

After working with the TechRadar Pro team for the last several years, Anthony is now the security and networking editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. When not writing, you can find him tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home.