How to encrypt your email

Encrypted email is used to secure confidential data being sent outside of WCM's secure email network. This includes emails sent to addresses ending in something other than:

• @med.cornell.edu
• @nyp.org
• @mskcc.org
• @rockefeller.edu
• @hss.edu
• @cornell.edu
• @cumc.columbia.edu
• @qatar-med.cornell.edu

Email containing confidential data that is sent outside of WCMC's network (e.g., data sent to vendors) must use encryption. To do that, follow these steps:

For email messages smaller than 25MB:

Encrypt an email by adding the text #encrypt in the subject line of any email. This can be done in Outlook or on a mobile device.

Doing this will encrypt both the message body and attachments. The recipient will then receive an automated message with instructions on how to retrieve your encrypted email.

Example of encrypted email notification

For email messages larger than 25MB

Emails with attachments greater than 25MB cannot be sent through Outlook or Webmail due to their large size. However, they can still be encrypted by using the File Transfer Service. Note that, in this case, only the attachments will be encrypted and no confidential data should be referenced within the subject or body of the message.

1. Log into the File Transfer Service at transfer.med.cornell.edu with your WCMC credentials.
2. Click the Send File tab, create your email, and add any necessary attachment.
3. Click the Send button. The recipient will receive an automatically generated email with instructions on how to retrieve the email you have sent.