To kick off Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Information Technology Services (ITS) is excited to announce the implementation of a new security feature for Microsoft 365 (M365). This new modification is part of an ongoing effort to keep your email safe and secure from phishing attempts and other malicious attacks.

Starting Sunday, September 29, M365 users will begin seeing banners at the top of email messages indicating if they originate from outside George Mason University’s email system. These banners are a reminder to examine the origin of messages from outside of the university email system. Messages originating from within our email system require the sender to authenticate and will not contain the notification.

Users may experience challenges upon launch, such as banners potentially appearing on messages that are from a gmu.edu address they are familiar with. In most cases, these messages do not originate from our mail system but instead are created by external tools such as listserv, Emma, or bulk mailers used for notices and newsletters. If you usually receive mail from someone without the banner and their messages are being marked as external, extra caution should be taken, including contacting the sender about the change.

For more information about the new banners and other M365 security enhancements previously implemented, see ITS Email FAQs and Safe Links and Safe Attachments. As a reminder, please exercise caution when opening attachments and links from unknown sources.

Stay tuned for details on Cybersecurity Awareness Month, beginning Wednesday, October 1! If you have feedback or questions about this change, please contact the ITS Support Center at 703-993-8870 or support@gmu.edu.