We have been testing the azure information protection option in order to send encrypted Emails. Once you get to grips with the interface its relatively easy to set up secured emails allowing authorised individuals to access the email.
We have tested the system by sending mails from our office 365 tenant to users with @gmail.com / @btinternet.com / @outlook.com and so on, addresses. These email domains have included exchange on premise systems and bigger players such as google and yahoo.
Restricting this discussion to outlook desktop email client, when an encrypted email arrives there is a link to click (beneath the large banner add for office 365), this opens a web page in the users browser with an authorisation button to click which sends another mail to outlook with a code in it. Copy and paste the code into the space in the webpage and the message opens up in the webpage. Its not slick, but it works. and allows the transmission of an encrypted mail.
There are some problems however:
if you send an email from your office 365 subscription to a recipient with their own office 365 subscription and they are also using outlook desktop client then the webpage opens but there is an error in sending the authorisation code. The solution for the recipient is to use a browser to log into their office 365 account online and then go through the authorisation process. This makes for a frustrating and long winded process.
The second problem is it wont work with IBM notes users at all.
Has anyone else had experience of this? Do you have any work rounds? Are Microsoft working on a slicker interface for sending / receiving encrypted emails?
I'd appreciate any comments.