M365 Changelog: (Updated) Microsoft Defender for Office 365: Password protected download of quarantined messages

MC384330 — Updated September 1, 2022: Microsoft has updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

With this change Microsoft is giving the ability to password protects items they download from quarantine. Microsoft wants users to be confident that the items they are downloading to their systems will not execute involuntarily without their consent, and this capability will allow them to safely transport the items to external analysis tools.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 93305

When this will happen:

• Standard: will begin rolling out in early July (previously mid-June) and be completed by mid-October (previously late August).
• Government: will begin rolling out in mid-October (previously late August) and be completed by early November (previously mid-September).

How this will affect your organization:

This new feature will enable tenant Admins and users to download quarantined messages and embed a password in those downloaded items.

View image in new tab

What you need to do to prepare:

You might want to notify your users about this change and update your training and documentation as appropriate. 

Blog