1.33 Set 'Use this format:' to 'Enabled:Convert to Plain Text format'

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-Convert to Plain Text format.


*Rationale*

Outlook 2010 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 2010\Outlook
Options\Mail Format\Internet Formatting\Outlook Rich Text options\Outlook Rich Text
options

Then set the Use this format- option to Convert to Plain Text format.

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/530

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-6b.

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 06ca87019219ad1f2502913b03cee9fe4d39740a0dd1bccbfff504d58fd0a765