What changes to email account forwarding mean for you

Beth Varcho | April 24, 2017

You may have heard that Enterprise Security will soon put security in place that will block employees from forwarding their osu.edu email accounts to other accounts outside of the university (this change does NOT affect students, alumni and those with Lifetime Email Forwarding Service).

If you’ve worked at Ohio State for a long time, chances are you are pretty settled into using your email. Whether you use Outlook or forward to another account, you’ve likely been doing it for years. So if you follow security best practices, and you haven’t changed your habits, why is this suddenly a threat?

Even though from where you’re sitting nothing has changed, the nature of cybercrime has changed dramatically. First, cybercriminals have realized that they only need to capture one person’s credentials to get a free ticket into our systems. Second, you’ve probably seen news reports about breaches of some very large email providers. If you are sending any information outside of Ohio State, once emails leave our servers we can no longer protect them.

In short, forwarding email creates a risk, and as the environment gets more dangerous, the risk has become too great to continue as we have in the past. New security prohibiting email account forwarding goes into effect on Wednesday, April 26 for incoming employees, but hard controls to end forwarding for current users won’t be put into place until Friday, September 29. To make your transition easier, we suggest using the next few months to discontinue forwarding and to set up your osu.edu mailbox in Outlook.

Unless you are well-versed in technology, you will probably need to contact your college or business unit’s desktop support for assistance. OCIO's Service Desk can answer many of your questions, but if you have local IT professionals in your college or business unit who provide desktop support, you will need to contact them for help installing Outlook and adding your email account/profile. Basic instructions are below.

  • Discontinue Email Forwarding
    • To discontinue forwarding your @osu.edu e-mail account to another mail box, go to https://my.osu.edu/.
    • Log in using your name.# and password.
    • Click on “Change email Delivery” from the menu in the left column.
    • For the “Delivery Option,” unselect “Forward my e-mail” by instead choosing “Deliver my email to the university’s email service.
  • Install Outlook Client
    • You can easily configure your University E-mail Service profile in Outlook 2007,2010, 2013, 2016 using the steps below. If the configuration utility does not work, you can always manually configure your University E-mail Service Account. This utility makes your new University E-mail Service profile your default but it does not delete other profiles.
    • Save this configuration utility (OSUOutlookProfileConfig.exe) to your desktop.
    • Close Outlook.
    • Run OSUOutlookProfileConfig.exe from your desktop.
    • Type your Ohio State e-mail address (lastname.#@osu.edu).
    • Click OK.

    • ***Wait while Outlook opens.***

    • Type your Ohio State e-mail address (lastname.#@osu.edu) and your Ohio State Username password.
      See my.osu.edu for more information about your Ohio State Username (lastname.#) and password.
    • Type your Ohio State e-mail address (lastname.#@osu.edu) and your Ohio State Username password.
  • Manually Configure Your University Email Service Account
    • When configuring Outlook to connect to the University E-mail Service, creating a new profile and e-mail account is recommended. Only add a new e-mail account to an existing profile if you have another university e-mail account that is not yet moved to the University E-mail Service.
    • Add a new Profile and E-mail Account
    • Open the Mail Setup dialog box (Control Panel > Mail).
    • Click [Show Profiles…].
    • Click [Add...].
    • Create a new profile.
      • Type a Profile Name (e.g., University E-mail Service).
      • Click [OK].
    • Add a new e-mail account.
      • Your Name = your name.
      • E-mail Address = your lastname.#@osu.edu e-mail address.
      • Password and Retype Password = your Ohio State Username Password.
      • Click [Next].
      • **Outlook automatically searches for the server settings and configures your account.***
    • Login to the server.
      • Confirm the Username is osuad\lastname.# .
      • When logging in via Outlook, users must preface their username with the domain name: osuad\lastname.# . Alternatively, users can type their full OSU e-mail address (lastname.#@osu.edu) as their Username .
      • Type the e-mail Password .
      • Click [OK] .
    • Update Microsoft Exchange proxy settings(link is external)
      • This setting confirmation or update is not always necessary but it will improve Outlook performance and is highly recommended.
    • Open Outlook and confirm Exchange connection.
      • Open Outlook.
      • Select the Profile Name.
      • Click [OK].
      • Confirm the Username is osuad\lastname.# OR lastname.#@osu.edu .
      • Type the e-mail Password .
      • Click [OK].
    • Confirm connection to Exchange.
  • Checking Email with Web Outlook
    • Login to the Outlook Web App
    • Go to email.osu.edu(link is external).
    • Click [Log In Now].
    • Type your OSU Internet Username (name.#) and your e-mail Password.
    • Remember, your e-mail password account is separate from all other tool and application logins (e.g., Carmen, eReports, Transportation & Parking) and is not kept in sync with your with the password associated with your OSU Internet Username at this time.
    • Click [Sign in].
    • Supported Browsers
    • If an unsupported web browser is used, Outlook Web App (OWA) will automatically open in the basic mode, which may alter the appearance or hinder the performance of some features and functions. For Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 systems:
    • Internet Explorer 7 and later versions
    • Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions
    • Chrome 3.0.195.27 and later versions
    • For Mac OS X systems:
    • Safari 3.1 and later versions
    • Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions
    • For Linux systems:
    • Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions

There are a few approved non-osu.edu domains to which employees can still forward. This includes Wexner Medical Center, med center affiliate employees who work for and forward to another hospital and special duty police officers who work for and forward to another law enforcement organization. Exceptions may be requested for regulatory requirements or business justification. 

If you have questions about email forwarding, please contact Associate Director Identity & Access Management Rich Nagle by email or by phone at 614-292-1385.

 

Tags: 
security, cybersecurity, email