OL2000: Security Zones in Outlook 2000

Microsoft Outlook uses Security Zones to provide control over how much access incoming e-mail messages and Web pages have to your computer. These security zones provide advanced protection against certain types of files that may gain access to your computer and replace or damage files. You can choose a security zone in which to place your incoming e-mail messages based upon their source and you can select specific levels of security for each zone.

Outlook uses four Security Zones:

1. The "Local intranet" zone contains all Web sites that are on your organization's intranet.
2. The "Trusted sites" zone contains Web sites that you trust not to damage your computer or data.
3. The "Restricted sites" zone contains Web sites that could potentially damage your computer or data.
4. The "Internet" zone contains all Web sites you have not placed in other zones.

You can assign each of these security zones one of four levels of security:

1. High, is the most secure. It will exclude content that you think might damage your computer.
2. Medium, provides a warning before opening content that is potentially damaging.
3. Low, is the least secure. It does not exclude or provide a warning before running potentially damaging content.
4. Custom, is for expert users. It allows you to choose from a list of content types and specify enabled, disabled, or prompt for each.

To Add a Site to Your Intranet Security Zone

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Security tab, click Zone Settings, and then click OK.
3. Click to select the Local Intranet icon, and then click Sites.
4. Click to select the types of sites that qualify for your Intranet security zone, or click Advanced, type the URL for a specific site, and click Add.
5. Click OK to save your selections and close each of the open dialog boxes.

To Add a Site to a Non-Intranet Security Zone

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Security tab, click Zone Settings, and then click OK.
3. On the Zone list, click to select either the Trusted site or Restricted site icons, and then click Sites.
4. Type the site's address in the "Add this Web site to the zone" field, click Add, and then click OK, OK, and OK to close all dialog boxes.

To Change Your Security Zone Settings

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Security tab, click Zone Settings, and then click OK.
3. Click to select one of the four zone icons, and using the slider control under "Security level for this zone," select the desired level. If you select Custom level, you must then click to select the desired settings from the Security Settings dialog box.
4. Click OK to close each dialog box.