Microsoft Outlook 2016 STIG Version Comparison

There are 6 differences between versions v2 r1 (Oct. 23, 2020) (the "left" version) and v2 r3 (April 27, 2022) (the "right" version).

Check DTOO214 was added to the benchmark in the "right" version.

This check's original form is available here.

Title

Read EMail as plain text must be enforced.

Check Content

Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Outlook 2016 >> Outlook Options >> Preferences >> E-mail Options "Read e-mail as plain text" is set to "Enabled". Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\outlook\options\mail Criteria: If the value ReadAsPlain is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

Discussion

Outlook can display email messages and other items in three formats: plain text, Rich Text Format (RTF), and HTML. By default, Outlook displays email messages in whatever format they were received.

Fix

Set the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Outlook 2016 >> Outlook Options >> Preferences >> E-mail Options "Read e-mail as plain text" to "Enabled".