Phishing is among the top security concerns for Stonehill College as there is little that can be done to prevent phishing attempts from being made. Security against phishing relies heavily on the ability of individuals to identify and report phishing emails successfully. The first line of defense is the filtering of spam and malware that Microsoft provides in Microsoft 365. In addition, IT has implemented email security features to better help everyone in the Stonehill community to identify phishing emails.
External tag
The first security feature tags each email originating from a source other than official Stonehill email servers or services with External next to the sender, as well as when you open the email in the reading pane. The External tag is designed to help you quickly identify possible phishing attempts, regardless of who the email claims to be from. Always keep in mind that an email from someone in the Stonehill community will not be tagged with the External tag.
Note about shared documents - Remember that shared document emails from within Stonehill will always come from an internal stonehill.edu email address . Shared documents from outside of Stonehill will therefore carry the External tag like all other external emails because they will contain the Microsoft default no-reply@sharepointonline.com email address. This is important to keep in mind as
smuggling malicious content inside an otherwise legitimate, external shared M365 document is one of
the most common methods of phishing we see at Stonehill.