1.9.4.2.2 Ensure 'Outlook Rich Text Options' is set to Enabled

Information

This policy setting controls how Outlook sends Rich Text Format (RTF) messages to Internet recipients.

If you enable this policy setting, you may choose from the following for handling RTF messages addressed to recipients on the Internet:

* Convert to Plain Text format - Outlook converts the message to plain text format in the default character set. Any message formatting will be lost.

If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Outlook automatically converts RTF formatted messages that are sent over the Internet to HTML format, so that the message formatting is maintained and attachments are received. The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled.

Rationale:

Outlook users can choose to compose messages in HTML, Rich Text, or plain text formats. For composing formatted messages, Microsoft recommends the widely-used HTML format but Rich Text Format (RTF) can also be used when sending messages within an organization that uses Microsoft Exchange.

By default, Outlook automatically converts RTF formatted messages that are sent over the Internet to HTML format, so that the message formatting is maintained and attachments are received. If this configuration is changed, recipients might not be able to read messages, or might not receive them with the proper formatting and attachments.

Solution

To implement the recommended configuration state, set the following Group Policy setting to Enabled.

User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Outlook 2013\Outlook Options\Mail Format\Internet Formatting\Outlook Rich Text Options

Impact:

If you configure this setting to 'Convert to Plain Text format' Outlook will remove any formatting applied to RTF messages when sent to recipients over the Internet. Users who compose messages in HTML or plain text format will not be affected by this setting.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/552

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-6b.

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: bb123d6359d8734957f6fe264add84fe9f77beb9fac338b9382e5fa33fafc265