Strengthening Password Policy via Outlook Features Password Policy and How-To Guide Richard Steiner December 16,

The problem: Passwords are being shared so that will be seen and responded to while people are unavailable to answer. Network Services has been working hard to strengthen security on many fronts, but a single shared password can greatly compromise all our efforts.

A new policy: Strong and secure passwords are a necessary part of an effective computer network security system. To protect Plant Operations employees and information, Plant Operations’ employees must safeguard the integrity of passwords used to access University resources by ensuring they are not compromised through sharing or other lax uses. If an employee has reason to believe others know their password, the employee must make every effort possible to change the password at the earliest possible time or immediately notify Network Services that the password in question may be compromised. In the event a password is compromised please notify Network Services as soon as possible. For information regarding the BFIT password requirements and guidelines see the memo on the web at:

A new solution: Teach employees the features of Outlook which allow mailboxes to be shared securely (without giving out passwords).

Giving permissions in Outlook: Right-click the folder you want to share, and then click “Properties”.

Giving permissions in Outlook: Click on the “Permissions” tab. Click on the “Add…” button.

Giving permissions in Outlook: In the “Type Name or Select from List” box, type or select the name of the person you want to grant sharing permissions to. Click “Add ->”, and then click “OK”.

Giving permissions in Outlook: In the “Name” box, click the name of the person you just added.

Giving permissions in Outlook: In the “Roles” box, click the permissions you want. We recommend using the “Editor” set of permissions, which will allow someone to clear out attachments if the mailbox goes over its limit.

How to open another’s folder: Now that you have been given permissions to someone’s folder, here’s how you get to it.

How to open another’s folder: From the “File” menu, point to “Open”, and then click “Other User’s Folder…”

How to open another’s folder: In the “Name” box, type the name of the person who granted you sharing, or select “Name” to select from a list. In the “Folder” box, click the user’s folder you want to open.

Responding to messages: With the user’s Inbox now open, we can now respond to their messages. It is not recommended to respond to messages via another’s address. Contact Network Services if you need to respond via another user’s address.

Responding to messages: Once we are viewing the user’s folder, select a message and press the “Reply” button. An editing window will appear with the user’s name in the “From…” field.

Responding to messages: Remove the user’s name from the “From…” field and put your own name there. (In this example George Benson is responding to a message sent to Beverly Bricker’s account.) Edit your response as necessary and send the message.

More information: For more information see Network Services’ web pages on Plant Operations’ web site. Under the Plant Administration department find the “Network Services” link. We will also send a follow-up message to all Plant with the exact location of these instructions.