Enhancing Email Security with First Contact Safety Tip in Microsoft 365

Email security is paramount. Microsoft 365 offers a feature called the First Contact Safety Tip, which is part of the anti-phishing policies in Microsoft Defender for Office 365. This safety tip is a proactive measure to alert users when they receive an email from a sender they haven’t interacted with before. 

To enable this feature and why it’s beneficial.

1. Access the Microsoft 365 Defender Portal: Go to “https://security.microsoft.com/”.
   
   
2. Navigate to ‘Policies & Rules’: In the left-hand menu, select ‘Policies & Rules’.
   
   
3. Go to ‘Threat Policies’: Here, you’ll find various options for managing your security policies.
   
   
4. Select ‘Anti-Phishing’: Under the ‘Email & Collaboration’ section, click on ‘Anti-phishing’.
   
   
5. Edit or Create a Policy: You can choose to edit the default policy or create a new one by clicking ‘+ Create’.
   
   
6. Enable the Safety Tip: In the policy settings, find and turn on the ‘Show first contact safety tip’ setting.

Benefits of Enabling First Contact Safety Tip:

• Increased Awareness: Users are made aware of new contacts, which encourages vigilance against potential phishing attempts.
  
  
• Prevent Impersonation: It helps prevent attackers from impersonating trusted contacts.
  
  
• User Empowerment: Empowers users to make informed decisions about the legitimacy of new email contacts.
  
  
• Easy Implementation: The feature is simple to enable and can be applied organization-wide.

By implementing the First Contact Safety Tip, organizations can add an extra layer of security to their email communication, helping to protect against phishing and other email-based threats. It’s a small step that can make an impact on your organization’s cybersecurity posture.

Remember, staying ahead of security threats is a continuous process, and features like the First Contact Safety Tip are valuable tools in your defence arsenal.