Email (electronic mail) is a means of transmitting computer-based messages over a network, typically the Internet. Today's email programs are often bundled with other tools designed to improve collaboration, such as calendars, contact lists, and task lists. 

ITD provides email service to the majority of state government and many local government entities. There are nearly 15,000 entries in the email directory for state government.

Email Environments

Platform	Web Access	Scope
Microsoft Exchange/Outlook	Outlook Web Access	Most of ND state government has standardized on the feature-rich functionality of Microsoft Exchange/Outlook to achieve a high-level of integration and interoperability. This service is also available to ND local government offices for a nominal fee.
POP3/SMTP (Pioneer)	Pioneer Web Access	Basic email is available to ND local government as a complimentary extension of the statewide network.

Protective Measures

All email from the public passes through enterprise email gateways. They are the only servers with email ports exposed to the public through the firewall. The gateways are configured to protect against open-relaying of messages; thus ensuring that spammers do not maliciously utilize the state's system and that legitimate service providers do not block (or blacklist) email from the state.

Additional protective measures include:

• Messages over 50 Meg in size are rejected. (Notify originator.)
• Messages from an unresolvable domain are rejected. (No notification.)
• Messages containing a virus are discarded. (No notification.)
• Suspicious attachment types are removed. (Notify recipient.) They include:
  • *.bat
  • *.cmd
  • *.com
  • *.exe
  • *.hta
  • *.pif
  • *.rar
  • *.scr
  • *.vba
  • *.vbs
  • *.zip
  • admin.dll
• Messages that are considered spam are quarantined for one week.  (No notification.)
• Message header information is logged and retained for one month.

Email Encryption

Email is inherently unsecured. Therefore, ITD offers an add-on feature (powered by Cisco Ironport) that provides encryption for agencies that use email to exchange sensitive and/or confidential information. It's as simple as adding "Securemail:" to the subject line of outbound messages. The recipient automatically receives instructions to access the email via the Secure Message Center.

Quotas

By default, Microsoft Exchange mailboxes are configured to issue a warning message when they reach 280MB in size, restrict sending at 300MB, and restrict receiving at 350MB. For an additional charge, mailbox quotas can be increased in 50MB increments.

Retention

• Email is not systematically retained and/or discarded for Records Management purposes. Users should treat email similarly to other types of records/documents. Email retention is covered by record series 450102 on the ND General Records Retention Schedule, and its disposal is completed by manual processes adopted by each agency.
• Email will be backed up nightly for disaster recovery purposes, and 14 days of backup data will be retained.
• Microsoft Outlook's “Recover Deleted Item” feature is configured to retain items for 14 days.
• Microsoft Exchange's “Recover Delete Mailbox” feature is configured to retain items for 14 days.

Requesting Service

ITD’s online Work Management System (WMS) may be used to submit a "Email/IM/Rightfax/Quota" service request. ITD's Enterprise Service Level Agreement includes Service Level Objectives and Standard Intervals for Request Fulfillment.