OVERVIEW
Target audience: This FAQ is for McGill email users that have not enabled 2FA on their email accounts. For this reason, this imposed limit affects mostly Alumni and Retirees.
Important: Change to the recipient limits for your Non-2FA enabled McGill email
In an effort to limit the impacts of unsolicited and fraudulent emails being sent in large numbers to the McGill community, McGill’s IT Infrastructure & Information Security has decided to limit the number of emails that can be sent from non-2FA (two-factor authentication) enabled email accounts.
This limit will be imposed on all such accounts as of October 3rd, 2023. From that date on, accounts that are NOT two-Factor Authentication (2FA) enabled (at this moment, mostly Alumni and Retirees’ accounts) will be restricted to sending messages to a maximum of 100 recipients per 24 hours. This limit is imposed on the number of recipients, regardless of the number of emails sent.
Important: McGill Active Directory managed distribution lists are not affected by this change. Such distribution lists are treated as 1 recipient.FAQs
Why is this limit being established?
- To limit the number of emails that can be sent from a compromised account, used for spamming, will reduce its impact on the McGill population and make such outbreaks more manageable.
- To bring us closer to complying with Law 25 which requires 2FA to be enabled on email accounts with the hope of improving security and personal data privacy.
What can I do to help mitigate security issues linked with spamming attempts?
Enable 2FA on your McGill email account by following the instructions in this two-factor authentication article.
Are Active Directory distribution lists (McGill's distribution lists) affected by this limit?
No. The McGill managed Active Directory distribution lists are not affected by this limit. They are treated as 1 recipient.
Are Distribution lists that I create on my own in Outlook affected by this limit?
Yes. Each recipient included in an Outlook, user-made distribution list, will be counted individually as a separate recipient.
What is the immediate effect of this limit on my account?
After the recipient limit is reached, messages can't be sent from your mailbox until the number of recipients drops below the established limit (100 per 24 hours). (see examples below)
How will I know if I reached the limit?
You will receive an email with the following message:
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Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups: This message couldn't be delivered because the sending email address was not recognized as a valid sender. The most common reason for this error is that the email address is, or was, suspected of sending spam. Contact the organization's email admin for help and give them this error message. |
Can you give me some examples of how this will affect my email sending habits?
Yes. Here is an example of how the limit will limit the recipient limit:
9:00 AM, day 1: first email message sent to 20 recipients,
10:00 AM, day 1: second message sent to 50 recipients,
11:00 AM, day 1: third message to 30 recipients, limit of 100 messages is reached.
No more messages can be sent until 09:01 AM on the next day (day 2) and only 20 recipients can be reached until 10:01AM at which point a message to an additional 50 recipients can be sent.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:
- * About: Email for Students, Faculty, Staff and Affiliates (service description)
- * About: Email for Alumni (service description)
- Email best practices
- FAQs for Email on Office 365