Exchange and Outlook Lose SmartScreen Antispam Updates

Spam signature updates for the Outlook and Exchange SmartScreen spam protection features will not be available from Microsoft after Nov. 1, 2016. Without ongoing spam signature updates, the SmartScreen service will continue to use the last signatures, but the spam protection may not detect the latest spam attacks. Therefore, to ensure ongoing protection from spam, Microsoft recommends that customers acquire an Office 365 or Exchange Online Protection (EOP) subscription or third-party spam protection by Nov. 1, 2016.

Outlook and Exchange SmartScreen

SmartScreen is a spam content filter included with Outlook and Exchange Server that evaluates each message received and determines a Spam Confidence Level (SCL) for the message. A high SCL indicates that the message is probably spam. To properly detect and evaluate spam, SmartScreen periodically downloads an updated spam signature file. Based on the information in the signature file, the SmartScreen filter calculates the SCL for a message and, if the SCL is high enough, moves the message to the user’s Junk folder.