Title

Junk email protection level for outlook (Cat II impact)

Discussion

The Junk E-mail Filter in Outlook 2007 is designed to intercept the most obvious junk e-mail, or spam, and send it to users' Junk E-mail folders. The filter evaluates each incoming message based on several factors, including the time when the message was sent and the content of the message. The filter does not single out any particular sender or message type, but instead analyzes each message based on its content and structure to discover whether or not it is probably spam. By default, users can choose from four levels of junk e-mail filtering: • No Automatic Filtering. Outlook does not evaluate incoming messages by content. Outlook continues to evaluate messages by using the domain names and e-mail addresses in the users' Blocked Senders Lists, and continues to move messages from blocked senders to users' Junk E-mail folders. • Low. Outlook only moves the most obvious spam messages to users' Junk E-mail folders. This level is the default setting. • High. Outlook intercepts most junk e-mail, but might incorrectly classify some legitimate messages as junk. Users are advised to check their Junk E-mail folders often. • Safe Lists Only. Outlook moves all incoming messages to users' Junk E-mail folders except messages from someone on users' Safe Senders Lists and messages sent to mailing lists on users' Safe Recipients Lists. If users choose an inappropriate setting, they might miss important messages or accumulate large amounts of junk e-mail in their Inboxes.

Check Content

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 -> Tools \ Options -> Preferences -> Junk E-mail “Junk E-mail protection level” will be set to “Enabled (Low)”. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Options\Mail Criteria: If the value JunkMailProtection is REG_DWORD = 6 (hex or decimal), this is not a finding.

Fix Text

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 -> Tools \ Options -> Preferences -> Junk E-mail “Junk E-mail protection level” will be set to “Enabled (Low)”.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-18935r1_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-17748

Group Title:

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.