With the Mailock Outlook add-in installed your ribbon layout will look a little different; you will have a new ‘New Secure Email' button and a ‘Mailock’ Tab.:
Sending a secure mail
You can send a message using either the 'New Secure Email' button or the familiar 'New Email' button. Both open a new message window as you're used to, the only difference being the Mailock button in the top left:
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If you use the 'New Secure Email' button, the green tick shows your message will be sent securely by Mailock |
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If you used the 'New Email' button, the red exclamation mark tells you the message won't be secured by Mailock |
Clicking on this button at any point before sending your message allows you to switch between secure and unsecure modes, regardless of whether you initially composed the email as secure or not.
What happens after you hit send depends on your add-in settings. The following is based on all the options being turned on - if you don't want to see one of the steps you can turn it off in the settings.
Sensitive content
This screen is displayed first only if:
- you have chosen to send a message unsecurely, and
- the add-in has found any keywords in your email that suggest it should have been sent securely e.g. password or account.
If both things happen, you're given a prompt to see if you meant to send it securely, and gives you the option to change your mind:
If you choose to send your message unsecurely, your message is sent, and you won't see any of the remaining screens.
If you've ticked 'Don't show me this again' and then change your mind, you can turn it on again in your add-in settings.
Recipient validation
If you've chosen to send the message securely, you'll be shown a confirmation step where you verify you've addressed it to the right recipients. Tick in the box next to each one to confirm and click on 'Continue':
If you need to make any changes, click on the 'Cancel' button to go back to your message, correct the recipients, then send the email again.
Secure this message
Next, you'll be given the choice of how to secure your message:
Provide a question and answer challenge for my recipients
This option provides an extra level of security to your message. Recipients will be asked the question and answer that you set here. This is usually a piece of information that only the recipient would know, meaning you have an extra level of confidence that the message is only being opened by the person it was meant for. Read more about what makes a good Q&A here.
Allow Mailock to verify the recipient by sending an SMS to the recipient's mobile phone
When this option is selected, Mailock will automatically create and send a six-digit code to the mobile number you provide. The recipient will be prompted for this code when they're opening their message. The SMS feature is only available for Pro licence holders.
If this option isn't shown, check your settings.
When ready, click on the 'Send' button to send your message.
Once a registered recipient has successfully answered the challenge question they are added to your trusted community of verified recipients. For more information about the trusted community and it's benefits, click here
To see what the recipient sees when you send a message, click here.
Tip: If you use the reading pane in Outlook, which shows a preview of your emails, and you receive a secure message don’t click on the ‘Read my message’ link you’ll see in the preview window. Instead, double click on the message to open it and Mailock will automatically decrypt it for you.
Message tracking
For Pro licence holders, you have the option to track your message once its been sent. Find and open your message in Sent Items in Outlook. The Mailock button confirms if the email was sent securely or not. If it was, clicking the button gives you further options:
Clicking on the button gives you the option to ‘Show access details’. This goes through a brief, automated, email verification step to confirm you're the sender. Once completed you'll see the access details of the message, such as if/when the email was opened and if any attachments have been opened:
You also have the option to revoke a message, say, if it had been sent in error. Just click in the 'Revoked' box (it will show a tick) to immediately block access to your message for that recipient. This can also happen automatically if they answer the security challenge incorrectly 5 times.
You can unrevoke a message by clicking in the box to clear the tick. Once unrevoked, a message can be opened as normal.
You will also receive a notification email when your recipient opens your email, as illustrated in the example below. If a message is revoked because the recipient failed the security challenge, you will receive a separate notification email regarding this action:
If you’d like to automatically move these to a folder other than your Inbox, we have a suggestion here.