Executable email attachment restrictions increase March 11

Beginning Friday, March 11, at 8 a.m., Information Technology Services (ITS) will increase the type and number of blocked executable email attachments for WSU mail.

Following industry best practice, ITS plans to increase the existing list of blocked attachments to include those frequently used in the transmission of malware and ransomware. Most of these executable files are already blocked by email security protocols in Proofpoint, WSU’s primary email protection service. This change aligns security standards between the two heavily utilized applications, Proofpoint and Office 365.

  • Traditional email attachments such as documents and PDFs should not be impacted.
  • Attachments that are being blocked can still be shared via a service like OneDrive, or other file storage services.
  • Current restricted attachment types can be viewed online
  • The list of more than 100 blocked attachment types includes Encrypted or Password Protected documents as well as more than 30 executable file types.

A better distribution method for executable files is Microsoft OneDrive or other cloud-based sharing tools.

Please direct any questions to Crimson Service Desk via email at crimsonservicedesk@wsu.edu or by phone at 509-335-4357.

The Notices and Announcements section is provided as a service to the WSU community for sharing events such as lectures, trainings, and other highly transactional types of information related to the university experience. Information provided and opinions expressed may not reflect the understanding or opinion of WSU. Accuracy of the information presented is the responsibility of those who submitted it. The self-uploaded posts are reviewed for compliance with state statutes and ethics guidelines but are not edited for spelling, grammar, or clarity.

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