Generate an Inform action

The Generate an Inform action sends a notification email to specified recipients to inform them of the actions taken during Gateway message processing. For example, you can automatically inform an individual that the Gateway detected a threat, such as a virus, in an email. This action can be added to all content rules.

 

To lessen the chances of an unauthorized user having access to personal and confidential information provided by the Gateway inform, we recommend that an inform is configured with the following in mind:

  • Do not include the original or modified message, or textual analysis results
  • Keep the inform message subject and body short with only minimum information
  • Inform tokens act as substitutions for variables such as URL or the message sender. You should use the minimum number of inform tokens when configuring an inform, ideally %DATE%, %SENDER%, %UNIQUEID% and %DOC_NAMES% only. Do not use inform tokens that could expose content of the email, for example %RCPTS% and %SUBJECT%. For a full list of inform tokens that you can use, see Using Tokens in Content Rules and Policy References.
  • Consider who will receive the inform. The Gateway options for who receives the inform are listed in the steps above.

Apply the action to a content rule

  1. Inside the What To Do? area of the content rule, click New next to the What Else to Do? action.
    The Add a What to Do Action dialog appears.
  2. Select the action from the list.
    The action is automatically added to the What Else To Do? area.
  3. Close the Add a What to Do Action dialog.

Configure the action

  1. Beside the Generate an Informaction in the What Else To Do? area, click Click here to change these settings.

  2. Specify the conditions for When the inform is sent:

    • If the "What to Look For?" conditions are met
    • If the conditions are met AND the disposal action is performed
    • If the conditions are met BUT the disposal action is not performed
  3. When the selected condition is met, the inform generated is based on what you enter in Using the template:
    • (Create a new inform) - when the action is saved, a new inform is created.
    • Inform - select a previously configured inform from the list.

  4. Specify the recipients who will receive the inform message:

    • Message Recipients - the recipients of the original message.
    • Message Originator - the sender of the original message.
       

      By default, the Gateway uses the address in the From: field of an email header to define who the Message Originator is.

      Enable the Use Reply-to if available check box if you would rather use the address in the Reply-to: field of an email header as the Message Originator.

      If no address exists in the Reply-to: field, the Gateway uses the address in the From: field by default.

    • The sender's manager - the manager of the person who sent the original message. You will also need to enter an address to be used if the sender's manager is unknown.
    • Server Administrator - the system administrator. This is the administrator email address specified on the System Email Addresses page in the System Center.
    • This email address - an email address that you specify.

  5. Select Consolidate informs for the same message ID to consolidate multiple Inform notifications.

     

    In some hosted platforms (such as Gmail), messages sent to multiple recipients are split into multiple messages, each with a single recipient. If you have a policy that uses the Missing Manager feature then the Gateway sends an Inform to a manager or server administrator for each email that breached policy. Selecting Consolidate informs for the same message ID consolidate these notifications into a single Inform.
     
    • Selecting this option can reduce the number of manager notifications you receive for the same message if you are using Missing Manager.
    • If you use the %RCPTS% token in an inform then the inform will only contain the recipients of the split message and not the recipients of the original message. To see the full list of recipients for the original message, you must include the original message in the inform. For information on where to change these settings, see Create or edit an Inform.
  6. Click Save.

    7.  

    To edit a previously created Generate an Inform action, follow the steps in Configure the action to change the current settings.

Remove the action from a content rule

Inside the What To Do? area, click next to the What Else to Do? action you want to remove and confirm the deletion.