Attachment Content at risk of being altered

[AndyH]

Why is it that you can open a message, and then open an attachment to
that message, edit the contents of that attachment and finally save
the modified message and attachment back to a mail folder?

You would hope that when you look at a past email message it is an
accurate record of what was received in your inbox, including its
attachments. But if someone (with malice or mischief in mind) is able
to modify the content of an attachment, then that hope goes out the
window.

I have observed this in a simple Outlook 2003 pop3 client. Is this an
issue that Exchange resolves?


Andyh

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

You can also edit the content of the message itself. This is the nature of email, which is not a system for protecting content. If you want content protection, you need to add another layer that works with the email content. Microsoft's Rights Management application is one approach. For others, see http://www.slipstick.com/addins/security.htm#services

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[AndyH]

Thank you Sue for that bit of bad news.

I find this situation very puzzling. These days email is more or less
all pervasive and some pretty important decisions and actions are made
based on email content (without Rights Management layer). Life and
death issues in some situations may not be an exaggeration.

Can you tell me why Outlook exposes messages to such casual
alterations of message content. I used Eudora for many years until
recently, and in all that time I never discovered a way to tamper with
the message body.

Regards,
AndyH

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

I think there are ways to do it with Eudora that aren't difficult at all.

Many people find this a useful feature -- to be able to make notes on email messages. I myself update attachments all the time as part of the process of submitting and revising magazine articles.

It might be helpful to think back to the days when the specifications that govern email transmissions were created. Nothing like today's usage was envisioned, I'm sure.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers