Details
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 ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesMicrosoft Outlook 2010Outlook
OptionsMail FormatInternet FormattingOutlook Rich Text optionsOutlook 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.
Supportive Information
The following resource is also helpful.
This security hardening control applies to the following category of controls within NIST 800-53: Configuration Management.This control applies to the following type of system Windows.