College Email
Why am I seeing an external email warning on my emails?
All emails originating from outside the College, except for those from approved College services like Canvas, will show a highlighted bar in the body of the email stating, “This is an External Email. Please be cautious when opening attachments and/or clicking links.”
This is a safety feature to make it easier for you to spot fake (phishing) emails that may pretend to be sent from your instructors or from other College departments.
A message with this disclaimer does not mean the email is malicious; only that recipients should be cautious. The tag does not indicate a message is unsafe; conversely, a message’s lack of a disclaimer tag does not indicate it is safe. A tag is informational to help you be aware of the message’s origin.
Do not click on links or open attachments in messages that are unfamiliar. If you are questioning whether an email is suspicious, please contact the IT Help Desk at x8060 or ITHelpDesk@carrollcc.edu.
Microsoft safe links and safe attachments protection features were introduced in October 2018. Microsoft Safe Links checks all links in an email to see if they are malicious. This will help protect you from links that may appear to be for legitimate college websites but are actually attempting to steal your information.
When a message contains a clickable image or text, the original address of the link will be replaced with a “safe link.” The safe link directs your browser to an Microsoft 365 service that tests to determine if the original address is potentially dangerous. Safe links contain “safelinks.protection.outlook.com” near the beginning of the link. If you hover your mouse over a link, you’ll see where the link points.
If the site linked is determined to be malicious, you will receive a warning message when you click on the link. See this Microsoft web page for an example and for more information.
Microsoft Safe Attachments will scan all email attachments for malware and other malicious content. This will help protect you from attachments that may appear to be documents but are actually viruses or other damaging executables.
When a message contains one or more attachments, all attachments will be scanned before delivering the message. It may take 1 to 2 minutes for messages with attachments to be delivered.
Email messages with attachments that test positive will have the attachment removed, and the message will be “quarantined” in the “Junk Items” folder in your College mailbox.
All Carroll Community College credit students have College email accounts.
When a new student registers for a credit class, an email will be sent to the email address provided on their enrollment application. This email will include a link to an Microsoft 365 password reset page and their new User ID. Students will be asked to reset their password to set up their account. Your account will give you access to College email, Canvas and Lynx Student Portal. All College communication is being sent to your Carroll email account.
Acceptable Use/Security/Privacy
- Students must comply with the Acceptable Use Policy – Technology Resources.
- Do not share your Student ID number, User ID or passwords with anyone.
- When finished using your account, log out and close your browser.