External Sender Disclaimer Requirement

There has been a sharp uptick in hacking and ransomware activity, which has crippled the operations of government agencies, private corporations and institutions of higher education. The recent implementation of the external sender disclaimer on all incoming emails originating from outside of the organization is a VCCS IT security control requirement.  

Some users have inquired why emails originating from students are being flagged as external senders. The College’s Microsoft email system (@nvcc.edu) is separate from the VCCS’ Gmail email system (@email.vccs.edu). The systems are not integrated and security settings are not synchronized. Any emails without the @nvcc.edu domain will be identified as external senders and tagged with the following message:

ATTENTION:  This email originated from outside of Northern Virginia Community College. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. 

As NOVA and the VCCS deploy additional IT security measures over the course of the year, we will continue to evaluate the scope of the external sender disclaimer to determine if changes can or should be made.

Submitted by:
Shelly Ryan, Info Technology Support Services, SNRyan@nvcc.edu