Email Defense System (EDS)

The Email Defense System (EDS), powered by Proofpoint, is Northwestern IT's system for scanning and filtering junk email, phishing attempts, viruses, and malicious high-risk attachments sent to the University community. EDS scans all incoming mail, deletes identifiable viruses and junk email, and quarantines other junk email before delivering messages to the University's central email server.

To review messages that have been quarantined by EDS, launch the E-Mail Defense System.

Privacy

It is important to note that EDS relies on automated processes; Northwestern IT staff do not alter or read private email messages.

A Safer, More Manageable Inbox

Contaminated email attachments are the most common source of computer infections. With EDS filtering out most of these as well as junk email, Northwestern email recipients experience:

• Increased computer security
• Decreased junk email, allowing for easier email management

URL Protection

EDS identifies URLs that may contain malware or phishing, and rewrites hyperlinks in emails so that users will not inadvertently access websites that have been identified as malicious.

If users hover over a rewritten link, they will see https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?= added to the beginning of the original link followed by a string of letters and numbers. If a URL containing phishing or malware is clicked, users will see a message that the web page was malicious and blocked. Legitimate sites should load with no delay.