Direct Email Creation for Microsoft 365
This page explains how to use the Direct Email Creation feature in Microsoft 365. Please follow the steps below to set up DEC settings within your Microsoft 365.
The Microsoft 365 settings section requires global administrator privileges.
Connect Your O365 with the DEC App
Please follow the steps below to make the necessary settings on the platform for the Direct Email Creation feature to be connected to your Microsoft 365.
Log in to the platform
Go to Company > Company Settings > Direct Email Creation page.
Click the + NEW button and select Microsoft 365.
Click on the Connect Account button to connect your O365 with the Direct Email Creation (DEC) application to create a configuration.
If required permissions are established successfully, you can configure the following DEC settings.
Name: Set a name for DEC settings.
Domains: Select email domains that you will send phishing simulation emails.
Test Email: Test if the configuration works successfully.
Send Test Email To: Enter the business email address.
Sender Email Address: Enter any from the address.
Sender Name: Enter a sender name.
Message: Enter a message.
Click the SAVE button to create configuration settings.
The configuration will be created if the requested permissions are established successfully. If it fails, the admin can see why it fails from the same page of the configuration.
How to Launch Phishing Campaign by DEC Settings
Go to Phishing Simulator > Campaign Manager from the main menu. Click on + NEW to create a phishing campaign and launch it to your target users.
Please complete the first, second, and third sections step by step. For more information about how to use each menu, see here.
When you get to the Delivery Settings page, inside of the Email Delivery field, select your DEC settings.
Set up the rest of the settings as you wish, and then click on Next to go to the last page.
Review all of your settings and click the Launch button to create phishing simulation emails in the selected target user's inbox.
About Required API Permissions
Keepnet follows Microsoft's secure design principles for third-party applications and has received approval from Microsoft. The app uses permissions solely to create simulated phishing emails in users' inboxes. It does not include permission to read, send email or access other mailbox functionalities.
The following permissions are required for customers using the Microsoft 365 email server.
Read and write all applications
It is used only when the customer uses a custom domain instead of dash.keepnetlabs.com to access the platform. This ensures that the customer can successfully configure the DEC settings on the platform while using the custom whitelabeled domain.
Read domains
It is used to fetch the domains that the customer owns in Microsoft 365 and allows the customer to select the relevant domains so the platform can create simulation emails in the user's inbox under the selected domains.
Read and write mail in all mailboxes
It is used to create a simulation email in the user's inbox. Please see following screenshot for more information about this permission
Read all users' full profiles
It is used to read the user's profile information, retrieve email account details (e.g., email address), and switch to the user's profile to create simulation emails in their inbox.
Sign in and read user profile
It is used to read basic company information of the signed-in user who grants permission.
Microsoft bundles permissions together. The following Microsoft screenshot shows a 'Mail' permission group. There's no separate Write permission — only the Mail.ReadWrite permission, which handles Write actions.
The following permissions are required for customers using the Microsoft Exchange Online email server.
Access mailboxes as the signed-in user via Exchange Web Services
It is used to access user's mailbox in order to create simulation email in the inbox.
Use Exchange Web Services with full access to all mailboxes
It is used to create a simulation email in the user's inbox without using a sign-in account.
Manage Exchange As Application
It is used to allow the app to manage the organization's Exchange environment without any user interaction.
In summary, customers only need to share the necessary permissions based on their specific environment, whether they use Microsoft 365, Microsoft Exchange Online, or a hybrid of both. Keepnet requests these permissions to create simulation emails in the user's inbox across any of these environments.
For example, if you use just only Microsoft Exchange Online, then Keepnet only uses the related permission groups for Exchange Online, other permissions are not used.
How to Provide Proof of DEC App Activity for Compliance and Security
To view the activity of the DEC application created by the platform and confirm that it is only creating simulation emails (and not reading any emails), please follow these steps:
Log in to the Microsoft Compliance Portal.
Navigate to the Audit menu.
If not already enabled, click to Enable Audit Logging.
Set up the DEC configuration successfully on the platform, and send a test email using the DEC settings to generate activity logs.
Go back to the Audit menu and search for logs related to the user who sent the test email with DEC settings. Also, you may copy the Application ID of the DEC application and paste it under the Keyword Search field to search logs.
In the logs, you should see activities such as "Created mailbox item", confirming the application's behavior. For example:
This log indicates that the application is only creating mailbox items and not accessing or reading mailboxes.
Video Tutorial
This video tutorial explains how to configure direct email creation settings and launch a campaign with these settings to create phishing emails directly in the user's inbox instead of launching with the SMTP option.
FAQ
Q: Which permissions does the DEC feature work with?
A: Click here for more information.
Q: Can I launch a campaign with DEC settings using the Fast Launch option?
A: No, you can only launch a campaign with DEC settings using Campaign Manager. If you launch a campaign with Fast Launch, the campaign will be started with default SMTP settings.
Q: Do I need to whitelist if I use the DEC feature?
A: If you use only the Phishing Simulator product and use the DEC feature, you don’t need to do whitelisting. If you’re using other products, such as Awareness Educator, you need to do whitelisting since the DEC feature only works for now with the Phishing Simulator product.
Q: Can I resend the campaign email to the users whose status shows Error in the Sending Report menu in the campaign report?
A: No, the users whose status shows Error means the destination email user account hasn’t been found in the O365, or there might be another problem for these users' email accounts which platform will show you as a tooltip if you hover your mouse over the error status.
Q: What action should I take for users whose status shows an error ("domain.com" is not in the allowed domain list) in the Sending Report menu after the launch campaign?
A: You can check and make sure you selected the related domain addresses in the DEC configuration, and then you can try to resend the campaign to these users from the Sending Report menu in the campaign report.
Q: What are the security risks if we authorize the DEC feature on the O365 server?
A: Authorizing the DEC feature on the O365 server doesn’t involve any potential security considerations. Keepnet Labs provides encryption to secure data and prevent unauthorized access to keep your data safe.
First, we encrypt data and apply it to our cryptography policy and data protection policy to make data secure and prevent potential vulnerabilities.
Furthermore, we have a strict access policy and do not allow unauthorized gain access to sensitive data; please see our access policy here.
Keepnet does its best to maintain rigorous security protocols such as regular audits of access rights, continuous monitoring for abnormal activities, and thorough vulnerability assessments.
You can see other data security measures on our platform security page.
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