Here’s Temporary Fix for Outlook Issue Blocking Encrypted Emails
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Microsoft has confirmed a new issue affecting classic Outlook for Windows, where users are unable to open OMEv2-encrypted emails sent from outside organizations. Outlook apparently throws an error, “Configuring your computer for Information Rights Management…,” when opening the message.
Microsoft confirms that the issue impacts users across all Office update channels when handling encrypted messages from other tenants.
The Outlook and Purview teams are currently investigating the root cause of the error. However, no timeline for a permanent fix has been announced yet. Microsoft says it will share more details as the work progresses.
Temporary fixes are available for IT admins, though
Microsoft has outlined two potential workarounds to keep OMEv2-encrypted email working. Microsoft recommends IT admins to:
- Exclude external users from Conditional Access requirements.
- Enable cross-tenant access to trust MFA claims from other organizations.
The second option has been described as an easy fix, as it allows encrypted emails sent to external tenants to be opened successfully. To set up, admins must visit the Microsoft Entra admin center and adjust inbound access trust settings and enable “Trust multifactor authentication from Microsoft Entra tenants.”
That said, the workaround comes with a catch. If you turn on cross-tenant access, others can open the encrypted emails you send. But to read encrypted emails they send you, their organization must also enable the same setting. Moreover, Microsoft has urged that until a permanent fix rolls out, admins should check this guide.
via: Bleeping Computer
