Question
What is Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)?
- ATP is a service provided by Microsoft to provide protection in emails containing links and attachments
How do I use Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
- ATP is an automatic service for all emails received to @westernu.edu email addresses.
Is there a downside of using Adanced Threat Protection? (ATP)
- With ATP enabled, emails are first sent through a filter to check links and attachments. Emails containing these can sometimes take an extra 10-15 minutes to send/receive, depending on type and size of file attachments. Smaller files like PDF and Word documents take much less time based on our testing. If you experience issues sending emails with links or attachments, please see the Issues and Questions section at the bottom of this page.
Advanced Threat Protection
ATP has 2 main functions for use at WesternU, they are Safe Links and Safe Attachments.
These 2 services act together to ensure that our email system stays secure and reduces the risk of virus and phishing attacks.
Safe Links
With ATP, links inside emails are first routed through a web-checker that will detirmine if the site is safe to visit. When hovering over a link in an email, you will either see that the link actually leads to nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com or states Original Link: This means that ATP is in place, and will scan the site before you visit it. The two iimages below will show both of these formats.
When checking links in emails, it will check both open and hidden links, as shown below:
If ATP finds that the link could be malicious, you will be given a screen such as the one below:
If you're given this screen Microsoft believes the site is malicious. The first few characters of the link is shown on the page to let you know what site was being accessed. From this screen you have 2 options, Go Back and Continue Anyway. It is reccomended to Go Back and verify that the link you are trying to access is correct.
It is possible in rare cases that ATP has a false positive. If you recognize the link, and know that the page is safe to visit you can click Continue Anyway. Once that option is selected it will take you to the site. Further links to this site inside emails will continue to prompt you to continue to go back.
Safe Attachments
ATP also has functions to scan attachments in emails being sent to @westernu.edu email addresses. There are no indicators for this because if an attachment is found to be malicious it will be blocked, and you will not receive the message.
If you are attempting to send a document, please be sure that it follows the below criteria:
- If a Microsoft Office document, make sure it is saved as the new file type (with the x in the format) such as docx, xlsx, Etc. The older formats will often times be blocked, and this is an issue if you are using older documents made in earlier version of Office.
- Has no macros enabled/in use. ATP is unable to check that the macros are not malicious, and will block all documents containing them.
- Does not contain links to other potentially unsafe websites.
Information from Microsoft
Issues? Questions?
If you are experience issues or have questions about ATP, please feel free to reach out to TechSupport using the information below:
Email: techsupport@westernu.edu
Phone: (909) 469-5432, (x5432) for internal calls
Hours: Monday-Friday: 7:30am-5:30pm, Saturday-Sunday: Closed