University of California Office of the President
Information Technology Services
Sending and Receiving Encrypted Email August 21, 2015
1
SENDING AN ENCRYPTED EMAIL
USING THE OUTLOOK CLIENT
Office 365 allows encrypted emails to be sent to both UCOP employees and outsiders, and allows recipients to
respond in an encrypted email. Encrypted email provides an extra layer of security protection and should be used
when confidentiality is extremely important. Note that reading encrypted emails can require some extra effort
and, for that reason, encryption should not be used for routine email, which is already reasonably secure.
1. To send an encrypted email from Outlook, simply include the word “Secure:” in the subject line. Note: the
word “Secure” must be followed by a colon “:”, i.e. “Secure:”
This email will be encrypted because it contains the word “Secure:” in the Subject line:
This email will not be encrypted because it does not contain the word “Secure:” in the Subject line:
2. Type the email as you normally would. Attachments can be included, and will also be encrypted.
3. Click “Send” to send the email.
University of California Office of the President
Information Technology Services
Sending and Receiving Encrypted Email August 21, 2015
2
USING THE OFFICE 365 WEB CLIENT
The process of sending an encrypted email using the web client is the same as using the desktop client.
1. To send an encrypted email from the web client, simply include the word “Secure” in the subject line.
This email will be encrypted because it contains the word “Secure” in the Subject line:
2. Type the email as you normally would. Attachments can be included, and will also be encrypted.
3. Click “Send” to send the email.
RECEIVING AN ENCRYPTED EMAIL
EMAIL RECIPIENTS WITH UCOP.EDU EMAIL ADDRESSES
INTERNAL—SAME DOMAIN
When an encrypted email is received and opened in the Outlook Desktop Client or the Outlook 365 Web Client by
someone with a ucop.edu email address, decryption is automatic, including responses to previously sent encrypted
emails. Nothing needs to be done other than opening the email normally.
University of California Office of the President
Information Technology Services
Sending and Receiving Encrypted Email August 21, 2015
3
EMAIL RECIPIENTS WITH NON UCOP.EDU EMAIL ADDRESSES
When an encrypted email is received by someone without a ucop.edu email address, additional steps are required
to view that email.
1. Open the email.
2. The email contains text describing the encryption and how to decrypt and view the email.
University of California Office of the President
Information Technology Services
Sending and Receiving Encrypted Email August 21, 2015
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3. Encrypted emails will always contain a file called “message.html”.
4. Clicking this link provides further instructions, including how to read the email on a phone or tablet.
University of California Office of the President
Information Technology Services
Sending and Receiving Encrypted Email August 21, 2015
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5. To view the encrypted email on a computer, click “Download”. The following dialog box, or a similar one,
appears:
6. Make sure “Open with Internet Explorer” is selected and then click “OK”.
7. The following screen appears:
8. If you have a Microsoft account (Hotmail or MSN) and the encrypted email was sent to this account, click
the “Sign in” button. Otherwise, skip to step 12.
University of California Office of the President
Information Technology Services
Sending and Receiving Encrypted Email August 21, 2015
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9. The following screen appears:
10. Sign in using your msn or Hotmail account.
11. The email appears:
12. If the encrypted email was sent to a non-Microsoft mail account, click the “Use a one-time passcode” link.
University of California Office of the President
Information Technology Services
Sending and Receiving Encrypted Email August 21, 2015
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13. A screen similar to the following appears:
14. A passcode will be emailed to the external email account. The reference code should match the one
shown in the web browser. If not, do not use the code
15. Enter the passcode and then click “Continue”:
University of California Office of the President
Information Technology Services
Sending and Receiving Encrypted Email August 21, 2015
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16. The encrypted email appears:
