Email attacks often begin with messages from an external email system. As part of UC Davis’s effort to reduce phishing and other email scams, Information & Educational Technology (IET) will begin tagging emails that originate from outside the University.

External email will show a tag (e.g., This sender anon@gmail.com is from outside your organization) at the top of the message with the option to block the sender. This does not mean that all emails tagged are malicious, but it is another tool to assist campus affiliates in avoiding phishing and spoofing attacks.  

Here’s what you need to know:

• In mid-December, an external tag will appear on messages in Office 365 when using Outlook or a web browser. Other email clients such as Thunderbird or the iOS mail app will not see the tag.
• No changes are necessary for email clients. Tagging is automatic in Office 365.
• DavisMail already has external tagging enabled.

If you have any questions, please submit a support request to ithelp@ucdavis.edu. For more cyber awareness guidance, download “Top 9 cybersecurity habits you need to adopt today” (PDF) from the UC Davis Information Security Office.