Quarantined Emails
What is a Quarantined email?
When you receive an email notification from Microsoft saying something has been quarantined, even though it is External, it is a good thing. Microsoft's security system has caught a message that was intended for you and has flagged it as something malicious. This could be a scam, spam, fraud or anything else you shouldn't want in your Inbox.
When you open this email, you will be met with the below image:
This tell you everything you'd like to know about what's going on. In the first box it tells you that there are some messages that require your attention, when they were intercepted, and how long you have to review them before they are deleted.
Within the second box, it tells you about the messages that need to be actioned upon. It will show you who is trying to send you the message, the subject and the date.
Underneath that, you have three options, Review Message, Release and Block Sender.
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Review Message: This takes you to where the message is being kept in Microsoft Defender's Quarantine.
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Release: This will immediately release the message from quarantine and straight into your Inbox.
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Block Sender: This will immediately block the sender and prevent them from sending you any further emails.
Microsoft Security
The above image is Microsoft Defender's Quarantine. It holds all the messages that have been held in place from attempting to access your inbox.
Clicking on the quarantined email brings up the following box;
This shows all information about the message you could possibly want, why it has been flagged, the sender, time and date and much more.
Clicking the 3 dots and hitting Preview Message (above) can show you what the message says. (below)
Once you have decided what you wish to do with the quarantined email, you can click Release Email or Delete from Quarantine and Block Sender.
Legitimate
If you believe that the email is legitimate, you can click any of the buttons throughout the process that says Release. This will take the email out of the quarantine and send it to your Inbox where you can go about responding to it as per normal.
Illegitimate
If you believe that the email is illegitimate, you can click any of the buttons throughout the process that say anything along the lines of Block Sender, Delete from quarantine, or Report.
This will remove it from your Inbox and your Quarantine and sent a report to Microsoft to help prevent future illegitimate messages. After you click these buttons, you won't have to worry about that message again.
Is it Legitimate?
It is up to the user to decide whether the email they've received is legitimate or not. Be vigilant, even if you truly believe that it is real, it was quarantined for a reason. Take a minute to look and think about why this was flagged. Could it be impersonating someone or something you know? Is it just an accident? It is up to the individual, but lean on the side of caution as it has been put in the quarantine, so at least Microsoft's algorithms think something is wrong with it.