Secure mailing

Municipality of Doesburg

This algorithm helps e-mail users determine when an e-mail contains sensitive information and should be sent securely. Application is integrated into Outlook's mail environment.

Last change on 8th of July 2024, at 12:36 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Other algorithms
• Impact assessment: Field not filled in.
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Organisation and business operations

Begin date

02-2024

Contact information

[e-mail]

Responsible use

Goal and impact

The purpose of this algorithm is to help ensure that information sent by e-mail is properly secured. The algorithm contributes to this by alerting e-mail senders to sensitive information and encouraging them to send it securely. If they choose to do so, the e-mail is secured with encryption, two-factor authentication for the recipient, revocation option and logging. This ensures that sensitive information is secured, while insensitive information can be accessed without additional friction for the recipient. The algorithm only impacts the process of sending e-mails and does not affect the substantive legal status of citizens or businesses.

Considerations

The use of this algorithm helps ensure that e-mails are sent with the right level of security. Classification of e-mails by algorithm is more effective than classification based on a glossary compiled by human input or classification by the sender, while at the same time the algorithm does not affect the content of an e-mail.

Human intervention

In principle, the user makes the choice whether or not to send an e-mail securely based on the recommendation by the algorithm. It is also possible to automate the choice of whether or not to send an e-mail securely based on the algorithm. In that case, a user can always choose to send an e-mail explicitly secure or insecure by themselves.

Risk management

The overall performance of the algorithm is monitored by the vendor. If it is found that the algorithm is making incorrect classifications more frequently, this is picked up by the monitoring so that adjustments to the algorithm can be made. For the using organisation, the accuracy of Smart Classification is also visible in an administrator dashboard.

Legal basis

From the BIO guidelines for the Government, secure mail is considered an advised measure when personal data or other sensitive information is sent via mail with some regularity.

Operations

Data

The application works by automatically recognising text elements that may refer to sensitive information that should be sent securely. It also allows a user to specify whether an e-mail should be sent securely or not.

Technical design

When composing a new e-mail, the terms in the message and attachments are used to see how similar it is to previously (securely or normally) sent e-mails. If the e-mail is sufficiently similar to messages normally sent securely, the e-mail is marked as potentially sensitive. Based on the terminology in the e-mail, it is determined whether it relates to a specific category of sensitive information, such as medical or legal. The moment the e-mail is classified as sensitive and is about a topic that the organisation has set to be sent securely, the user is given a recommendation to send the e-mail securely.

External provider

Bastion