The security-related features in Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2003 help to minimize the risks posed to your organization from viruses that spread through e-mail messages.

If you use Microsoft Exchange Server for your messaging server, you can use the Outlook Security Template to modify these security settings to help meet the needs of your organization. Publishing a Security Form with settings configured by using the Security Template helps to give your organization further protection, even if you do not modify the existing security features. For example, by using the Security Template to publish the Security Form with the default list of Level 1 blocked file attachment types, users in your organization cannot remove file types from the list on their local computers.

You can also make changes to Outlook security settings, such as trusting COM add-ins or adding to the list of file types that are blocked in e-mail messages. Because Outlook 2003 is designed to help limit the spread of e-mail viruses in an organization, be aware that any changes you make to relax this security — such as removing file types from the list of blocked attachments, or demoting Level 1 restricted file types to Level 2 — makes it more likely that viruses can invade your e-mail system.

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For more information about configuring security options by using the Security Template, see Customizing Outlook 2003 to Help Prevent Viruses.