Microsoft provides three email encryption options for your Microsoft 365. IT Partner will be able to implement any of them. You might compare the options shown below. Also, please check out the YouTube video explanation.

                Microsoft 365        Information Rights Management in Exchange Online                                               S/MIME for message
                Message                                                                                                          signing and
                Encryption                                                                                                       encryption

What is it?\ Microsoft 365 IRM is an encryption solution that also applies usage restrictions to email messages. S/MIME is a Message. It helps prevent sensitive information from being printed, forwarded, or copied by certificate-based Encryption unauthorized people.\ encryption solution (OME) is IRM capabilities in Microsoft 365 use Azure Rights Management (Azure RMS).\ that allows you to a service built both encrypt and on Azure Rights digitally sign a Management (Azure message. The RMS) message encryption that lets you helps ensure that send encrypted only the intended email to people recipient can open inside or outside and read the your message. A digital organization, signature helps the regardless of the recipient validate destination email the identity of the address (Gmail, sender.
Yahoo! Mail, Both digital Outlook.com, signatures and etc.).\ message encryption As an admin, you are made possible can set up through the use of transport rules unique digital that define the certificates that conditions for contain the keys encryption. When for verifying a user sends a digital signatures message that and encrypting or matches a rule, decrypting encryption is messages.
applied To use S/MIME, you automatically.\ must have public To view encrypted keys on file for messages, each recipient. recipients can Recipients have to either get a maintain their own one-time private keys, which passcode, sign in must remain secure. with a Microsoft If a recipient's account, or sign private keys are in with a work or compromised, the school account recipient needs to be associated with get a new private Microsoft 365. key and Recipients can redistribute public also send keys to all encrypted potential senders.
replies. They
don't need an
Microsoft 365
subscription to
view encrypted
messages or send
encrypted
replies.\

What does it do?\ OME:\ IRM:\ S/MIME addresses Encrypts messages Uses encryption and usage restrictions to provide online and offline protection for email sender sent to internal messages and attachments.\ authentication with or external Gives you, as an admin, the ability to set up transport rules or Outlook protection rules to digital signatures, recipients.\ automatically apply IRM to select messages.\ and message Allows users to Lets users manually apply templates in Outlook or Outlook Web App.\ confidentiality send encrypted with encryption.
messages to any
email address,
including
Outlook.com,
Yahoo! Mail, and
Gmail.\
Allows you, as an
admin, to
customize the
email viewing
portal to reflect
your
organization's
brand.\
Microsoft
securely manages
and stores the
keys, so you
don't have to.\
No special client-
side software is
needed as long as
the encrypted
message (sent as
an HTML
attachment) can
be opened in a
browser.\

What does it not OME Some applications may not support IRM emails on all devices. For more information S/MIME doesn't do?\ doesn't let you about these and other products that support IRM email, see Client device allow encrypted apply usage capabilities.\ messages to be restrictions to scanned for messages. For malware, spam, or example, you policies.
can't use it to
stop a recipient
from forwarding
or printing an
encrypted
message.\

Recommendations We recommend We recommend using IRM when you want to apply usage restrictions as well as We recommend using and example using encryption. For example:\ S/MIME when either scenarios\ OME when A manager sending confidential details to her team about a new product applies the "Do Not your organization you want to send Forward" option.\ or the recipient's sensitive An executive needs to share a bid proposal with another company, which includes an attachment organization business from a partner who is using Office 365, and require both the email and the attachment to be requires true information to protected.\ peer-to-peer people outside encryption.
your S/MIME is most organization, commonly used in whether they're the following consumers or scenarios:
other businesses. Government agencies For example:\ communicating with A bank employee other government sending credit agencies
card statements A business to customers\ communicating with A doctor's office a government sending medical agency
records to a
patient\
An attorney
sending
confidential
legal information
to another
attorney\ #

Our objective is to enable email encryption in your Microsoft 365 tenant and provide instruments to control sensitive data with flexible policies or ad hoc customer controls that are built into Microsoft 365.

An implementation project will be considered successful when you:

1. send encrypted emails from any device
2. easily navigate through encrypted messages
3. deliver encrypted email directly to recipients' inboxes
4. decrypt and read encrypted email with confidence, without installing client software
5. enjoy simplified user management that eliminates the need for certificate maintenance

IT Partner responsibilities #

• Set up Email Encryption in Microsoft 365
• Create mail flow rules that define the conditions for encryption
• Bring your own key (BYOK) settings if needed

Client responsibilities #

• Provide a dedicated point of contact responsible for working with IT Partner and coordinate any outside vendor resources and schedules, if needed
• Configure all networking equipment, such as load balancers, routers, firewalls, and switches
• Set up and configure the email client(s) on end-user devices

Outside the scope of this project (additional cost items) #

• Mailbox migration to Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online)
• AD and group policy settings

Upon completion of the engagement, we will provide a project closeout report. This document will indicate final project status, including evidence of meeting acceptance criteria, outstanding issues, if any, and final budget. If you want more extensive documentation, it can be provided for an additional fee.

Prerequisites #

• You must have global admin level access to the source Microsoft 365 tenant
• You must have global admin level access to the destination Microsoft 365 tenant, with Exchange Online licenses available

To use the new OME capabilities, you need one of the following plans:

• Microsoft 365 Message Encryption is offered as part of Office 365 E3 and E5, Microsoft E3 and E5, Office 365 A1, A3, and A5, and Office 365 G3 and G5. Customers do not need additional licenses to receive the new protection capabilities powered by Azure Information Protection
• You can also add Azure Information Protection Plan 1 to the following plans to receive the new Microsoft 365 Message Encryption capabilities: Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, Microsoft 365 F1, Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, or Office 365 Enterprise E1
• Each user benefiting from Microsoft 365 Message Encryption needs to be licensed to be covered by the feature
• For the full list, see the Exchange Online service descriptions for Microsoft 365 Message Encryption.

Plan #

May vary depending on your needs.

1. Kickoff meeting
2. Pre-implementation system health check
3. Configuring OME and additional tools
4. Setting up Exchange Online Transport Rules
5. Verify email encryption
6. Post-implementation tasks

Results #

You will be able to use Microsoft 365 Message Encryption (OME) capabilities that protect your emails, and mail flow rules that define the conditions for encryption. Your email recipients should be able to receive and reply to your secure emails using any device with any email client.

Relevant articles #

1. Microsoft 365 Message Encryption FAQ
2. Microsoft 365 Message Encryption
3. Email encryption in Microsoft 365