Last August, Cornell implemented an effective new tool to protect campus email users from malicious attacks. Ever since Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Safe Attachments was deployed on the university’s Office 365 email service, it has greatly reduced the possibility of advanced malware infecting your computer through a malicious email attachment.

Because ATP Safe Attachments provides nearly transparent protection from malware in email file attachments, it is likely that few users have even noticed its presence.

The IT Security Office is happy to report that, in the six weeks since implementation, Safe Attachments has protected users and has not incorrectly removed any legitimate attachments.

Users can rest assured knowing that, in the event an email contained an unsafe email attachment, the malicious attachment would be removed and replaced by a short message saying so. Of course, in the unlikely event something were to be incorrectly identified, removed attachments can always be recovered by IT support staff.

ATP Safe Attachments is a proven, fully licensed security tool that is used widely around the world. It complements and adds to other measures introduced by Cornell Information Technology.

If you have questions about ATP Safe Attachments, contact the IT Security Office.