Securing Outlook 2003 messages with Information Rights Management

One way you can protect yourself against unintentional disclosure of email content is by using Microsoft Outlook's Information Rights Management (IRM) feature.

With Information Rights Management, you can place various restrictions on an outbound message. For example, you can prevent the message from being forwarded or printed. You can even keep someone from copying and pasting the contents of the message into another document.

Before you get too excited though, Information Rights Management isn't foolproof. It only works if recipients are using Outlook 2003. If they happen to be using Outlook 2000, Eudora, Outlook Web Access, or anything other than Outlook 2003, they will not be able to open the email.

The good news is that Microsoft will likely build IRM into future versions of Outlook and Exchange Server. This means that, even though there are a limited number of recipients that recognize IRM permissions today, that number will increase over time as more people upgrade to newer versions of Microsoft Office.

In the meantime, there is an IRM add-on for Internet Explorer that allows recipients who do not have Outlook 2003 to view IRM-protected documents.

Sending a message using Information Rights Management

You will now be able to send the restricted message.

About the author: Brien M. Posey, MCSE, is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with Windows 2000 Server and IIS. Brien has served as CIO for a nationwide chain of hospitals and

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT Outlook and Outlook Web Access Tips Troubleshoot Microsoft Outlook Web Access problems Control Outlook 2007 in cached mode settings with group policies Performing advanced search queries in Microsoft Outlook 2007 Group policy settings for Outlook 2007 in cached mode Detecting update rollup and patch failures in OWA How Windows Desktop Search works in Microsoft Outlook 2007 Troubleshoot IIS metabase corruption in Outlook Web Access How a bare-metal restore affects Microsoft Outlook 2007 performance Fix 'Service unavailable' errors and other common OWA login problems Understand data file storage in Outlook 2007 Roaming and Local folders Exchange Security Tips How file-level antivirus software can harm your Exchange Server Understanding Exchange Server 2007 SP1 mobile security settings Which ActiveSync authentication method is best for your mobile device? Why you should secure Exchange 2007 using administrative policies Microsoft Exchange Server security dos and don'ts Create a journal rule in Exchange 2007 to secure journaling mailboxes How to protect an Exchange journaling mailbox from email spoofing Lock down Microsoft Outlook 2007 to prevent .PST file access Using Exchange Server journaling as an email-archiving solution Use the OWA Admin tool to 'segment' Outlook Web Access 2003 features Microsoft Outlook Stop personal calendar appointments from showing on Exchange Server Relocating Outlook email messages on a hosted Exchange 2007 server Creating Meeting Workspaces in MOSS 2007 and Outlook 2007 Control Outlook 2007 in cached mode settings with group policies Sending poll questions through Exchange to non-Outlook users Sort Microsoft Outlook email messages by original date Performing advanced search queries in Microsoft Outlook 2007 Synchronized Exchange mobile device showing deleted appointment Group policy settings for Outlook 2007 in cached mode Problems creating Microsoft Outlook profile in Windows Vista Microsoft Outlook Research

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary bacn  (SearchExchange.com) email bankruptcy  (SearchExchange.com) offline folder file  (SearchExchange.com) OST file  (SearchExchange.com)

RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary

was once in charge of IT security for Fort Knox. As a freelance technical writer he has written for Microsoft, TechTarget, CNET, ZDNet, MSD2D, Relevant Technologies and other technology companies. You can visit Brien's personal Web site at www.brienposey.com.

MEMBER FEEDBACK TO THIS MICROSOFT OUTLOOK TIP

When I click on File in a new message in Outlook 2003, there is no Permissions option. Please advise. Thanks.
—Edwin T.

******************************************

It sounds like the underlying service is missing. You can get Microsoft's Rights Management Services here.
—Brien Posey, tip author

******************************************

Does the recipient need to have Information Rights Management (IRM) installed just to view a message sent with restricted permissions? Is there an additional Windows server-side component that needs to be running?

In testing IRM out, I set it up on my Outlook 2003 client using the 10 steps provided in the article.

The recipient of the test message was unable to simply view the message. He got prompted to install IRM on his PC, and even after doing so, was not able to open the message.

Any feedback would be appreciated.
—Dustin F.

******************************************

Yes, the recipient does need to have IRM running. If IRM is not running, the recipient will be prompted to install it and should then be able to view the messages.
—Brien Posey, tip author

Do you have comments on this tip? Let us know.

Related information from SearchExchange.com: