Shield Onboarding Guide
The Shield Onboarding Guide introduces a new email security tool that uses a zero-trust approach to automatically filter unwanted emails, provides color-coded security banners for easy identification of safe messages, eliminates the need for manual filtering or quarantining, and empowers users to control their inbox with one-time decisions remembered by the system, ultimately enhancing email safety, reducing noise, and ensuring timely delivery of important communications.
Your New <em>Email Experience</em> with Shield
Your New Email Experience with Shield
We have chosen Shield to protect your email. Shield takes a "zero trust" approach to email security—think of it like an exclusive social network where you control the guest list. No more unwanted communication wasting your time! This new tool ensures none of the bad stuff ever makes it into your mailbox AND gives you the power to control which emails reach you (and which don’t). Here’s how your new email experience will look:
YOU’LL NO LONGER NEED TO:
Guess whether an email is safe or dangerous
Hunt through a quarantine for important emails that get trapped and delayed
Manually filter through irrelevant noise to find the emails you want
Keep telling your email system who you want to hear from because it doesn't listen
Wonder if you’ve missed important emails or if your inbox is secure
INSTEAD, YOU’LL:
Recognize safe emails by their color-coded security banner
See important emails arrive in your inbox with no delay
Receive only the emails that matter to you, with the rest filtered out automatically
Make one-time decisions that Shield remembers for the future
Receive regular updates that keep you informed about your email security
Six Ways Shield Makes Your Email Life <em>Better</em>
Six Ways Shield Makes Your Email Life Better
#1 | COLOR SIGNALS SHOW YOU WHAT’S SAFE
#1 |COLOR SIGNALS SHOW YOU WHAT’S SAFE
Once Shield is turned on, every email will include a visual security summary at the top, called your Heads-Up Display (or HUD for short). Using clear color signals, these risk insights help you feel more confident with good messages and more careful with suspicious ones.
Breakfast tacos tomorrow?
Import Delete Archive Move Flag Read/Unread Rules Sync
Breakfast tacos tomorrow?
AS Adele Shield [email protected] Thursday, December 26, 2024 at 9:14 PM To: Sam
TRUSTED FOR: Inbox Delivery
San Antonio has some great places!
HUD Types & Message Locations
Yellow means a low risk factor, like a bulk email, was detected and the message will be delivered to the junk folder if the sender is unknown. In this example, there’s also an indication that the message was sent from an untrusted region.
Orange means a moderate risk factor, like spam, was detected and the message will be delivered to the junk folder (even if the sender is known).
Red means a high-risk factor, like impersonation, was detected. Typically, these messages will be held outside the mailbox entirely as they should be treated with extreme caution. This message also shows that the message was sent from a known dangerous region.
Green is a positive indicator that a message is safe. Typically, these are emails from trusted contacts delivered immediately to your inbox.
Shield will also alert you when someone new emails you for the first time. This HUD provides additional information, like the fact that the message was sent from a trusted region, so you can quickly identify safe or harmful messages from people you haven’t heard from before.
NOTE: More information on the new sender experience can be found below in item #3.
#2 | LOOK INSIDE ANY EMAIL
#2 | LOOK INSIDE ANY EMAIL
Clicking on the Heads-Up-Display will take you to Shield’s email inspector called X-ray, where you can learn more about a message before acting. This safe preview environment shows you what's good or bad about a message, what's inside it, and where it came from. Each insight is explained in everyday language (not complicated, technical terms) so you can make confident, informed decisions.
IMPORTANT: The first time you navigate to the Shield portal, you will have to authenticate using your Microsoft login credentials. You only have to do this once.
EXAMPLE ONE:
Insights from a Bad Message
While this message looks like it came from a trusted contact, it contains three high-risk factors (in red) that indicate the sender’s mailbox has likely been compromised. These insights tell us we should exercise extreme caution before replying or clicking on an attachment or link.
SENT FROM A Trusted contact On Nov 30, 2024 you trusted email from Sam Stone for Inbox Delivery
Pakistan This email was sent from a dangerous region.
MESSAGE FROM AN Impersonated sender This message says it's from HSBC Bank, but it's not really them.
CONTAINS A Dangerous file type An attachment on this message is a dangerous file type.
SENT FROM A Trusted contact On Oct 17, 2023 you trusted email from Jim Fester for Inbox Delivery
SENT FROM THE United States This email was sent from a trusted region. © Stadia Maps ©5OpenMapTiles ©OSM contributors
SIGNATURE IS Authentic This email is digitally signed by semrush.com.
SENT FROM AN Authorized source The source of this message is authorized to send email for semrush.com.
EXAMPLE TWO:
Insights from a Good Message
This message is from a trusted contact in a trusted region. It has an authentic signature that tells us it hasn’t been tampered with, and the message’s sender is authorized to send mail from the domain. These insights tell us this message is safe to interact with.
#3 | YOU DECIDE WHO GETS THROUGH
#3 | YOU DECIDE WHO GETS THROUGH
When someone new emails you for the first time, Shield puts you in control of who reaches you and who doesn’t—just like accepting or declining friend requests on social media.
New sender. Do you want to Trust or Silence them?
Trust Silence
The new sender banner is found at the top of the message, above the new sender HUD. It is a clickable image that opens the Shield app in your browser. “Trust” senders to allow future emails or "Silence" senders to keep them out of your inbox. These one-time decisions train Shield on what messages you want and don’t want in the future.
Confirm trust
Jordan Blake [email protected]
Inbox Bundled
Confirm
Silence this sender instead
Confirm silence
Jordan Blake [email protected]
Jail Junk
Trash Archive
Confirm
Trust this sender instead
Prefer to stay in your email client instead of using the app? No problem. Shield learns from that too.
For example, if a message from a new sender lands in your junk folder:
• Move it to Inbox to trust the sender and allow future messages.
• Permanently delete it from Junk to silence the sender for good.
#4 | GETS SMARTER AS YOU USE IT
#4 | GETS SMARTER AS YOU USE IT
Shield starts learning on day one. As you reply to important messages, delete unwanted ones, and trust or silence new senders, Shield will gradually fill your inbox with only what's important to you.
Like a good assistant, Shield needs a little time to learn your preferences, so be patient during the first week as it gets to know you better.
#5 | FIND ANY EMAIL, ANYWHERE
#5 | FIND ANY EMAIL, ANYWHERE
Sometimes emails end up in unexpected places and Outlook search isn’t the best at helping you locate them. Spotlight fixes this problem with powerful search to find any message, anywhere, fast.
Once you’ve located a missing message, click the search result to safely preview the email in X-ray and move it to a different location if desired.
Spotlight Quickly find any email you've sent or received.
Search & Rescue Recently sent Recently held in Jail Trusted in Jail Trusted in Junk
last: 14 days search
from: to: cc: subject: body: has: in: is: after: before: last:
From To Subject Location Date EF E-Payment Fraud Prevention [email protected] Electronic Payment Fraud Prevention Best Practic... May 9, 4:46 PM S Statuspage [email protected] Statuspage: Long-running incident (Intermittent b... May 9, 3:40 PM P Paypal [email protected] You've recieved money from Rose-Marie Smith May 9, 1:16 PM HJ Harshit Jamb [email protected] quick note on your book May 9, 1:09 PM C Calendly [email protected] Your new Event Type is ready! Share it today May 9, 12:59 PM
#6 | KEEPING YOU IN THE LOOP
#6 | KEEPING YOU IN THE LOOP
You’ll receive a daily Email Security Briefing to ensure you never miss anything important and help you understand how Shield is working to keep your mailbox safe and calm. It shows you:
New senders awaiting your review O
Stats on how Shield is protecting you O
It’s like getting the highlights without having to watch the whole game.
What to Expect in Your <em>First Week</em>
What to Expect in Your First Week
Think of Shield like a new personal assistant who needs time to learn your preferences. Here's what to expect as you both get acquainted:
FIRST DAY
Familiarize yourself with the Heads-Up-Display:
These color-coded banners at the top of your emails provide a glanceable summary to help you decide if an email is Osafe to interact with or needs a closer look.
In your inbox, you’ll start to see green banners from trusted contacts, like those inside your organization or people Oyou’ve sent mail to before.
Shield
Shield
Check your junk folder and take a few actions to begin training Shield:
Shield will place messages with potential risk factors in your junk folder until it learns your preferences. O
If you want a message, simply drag it from junk to your inbox. If you never want to hear from a particular sender Oagain, delete the message from junk.
Take these actions once, and Shield remembers your choice for the future. O
Respond to new sender banners:
When someone emails you for the first time, use the new sender banner to open the Shield app to trust and Osilence senders. If you prefer to remain in your email client, you can train Shield there too.
These actions tell Shield who you want to hear from and who you don't. O
NEXT FEW DAYS
Continue to move messages around your mailbox:
Remember, Shield needs your guidance to fully understand what matters to you. O
Every action you take helps the system build your own personal profile. O
Don’t worry! While you may see more junk email to start, it will lessen with time as Shield learns more about your Opreferences.
If you’re missing an email:
Check out Spotlight’s powerful search functionality. O
O Check out Spotlight’s powerful search functionality.
Click on a search result to open X-ray and change the location if desired. O
Review your Daily Security Briefing:
This snapshot helps you catch anything important that might need attention. O
BY THE END OF THE WEEK
Spend less time sorting through noise:
The system will have learned enough to handle most filtering decisions. O
Feel more confident about email security:
You'll understand the visual cues and digestible insights that help you make confident, informed decisions about a Omessage’s safety.
Enjoy a more productive email experience:
With less time managing emails, you can begin to shift your focus to what matters most. O
The first week might feel a bit different as you adapt to this new way of handling email, but most people quickly appreciate the calm and control Shield brings to their inbox.
If you have questions or need assistance, we are here to help.