Campus News

Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection Begins Monday

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 21, 2018)  On Monday, March 26, University of Kentucky Information Technology Services will be rolling out Microsoft 365 Advanced Threat Protection to all students, faculty and staff. ATP reduces the likelihood that members of the UK community will become victims of phishing emails and ransomware attacks.

How does this impact my email?

ATP provides protection against malicious content sent to any university email address (@uky.edu or @g.uky.edu). ATP analyzes incoming email, blocking malware and unsafe links by providing real-time, time-of-click protection. If a link is found to lead to a malicious website, a warning will be displayed instead of the website. Malware attachments are removed but the message is still delivered. The security scan of links and attachments can introduce a possible slight delay in email delivery but is usually not noticeable. Students, faculty and staff will begin to receive a weekly “Quarantined Email” report with a list of emails that were scanned and deemed harmful. 

In addition, a new method to improve junk mail filters will be available. If you receive junk email in your inbox, you can use the “Report Message” button to send the message to Microsoft to help improve spam filters. If you find an email in your “Junk Email” folder that is not spam, you can also use the “Report Message” button to mark it as a legitimate email, move the message to your inbox and report the incident to help Microsoft improve spam filters.

How does this impact my file storage?

ATP also provides protection against opening or downloading of files from SharePoint, OneDrive, Office 365 Groups and Microsoft Teams. When accessing a file from these locations, it will be scanned and if found to be malicious it will be blocked from opening or downloading.

Cybersecurity Awareness Is Important

Cybersecurity should be a constant concern. Even though ATP adds an extra layer of protection, it is still possible for an unsafe web address to get through and there will continue to be events that bypass established safeguards. 

It is always a good idea to never click on anything you are not sure about. Students, faculty and staff can continue to send messages they are uncertain about to IsThisEmailSafe@uky.edu.

More information on ATP can be found by visiting www.uky.edu/its/atp.