Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP3, Exchange Server 2010 SP2

Topic Last Modified: 2010-08-10

Information workers increasingly use e-mail to exchange sensitive information. To help secure this information, organizations can use Information Rights Management (IRM) to apply persistent protection to messaging content. Prior to Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, effective use of IRM protection was limited to Outlook clients. In Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft Outlook Web Access users were required to download the Rights Management add-in for Microsoft Internet Explorer so they could access IRM-protected content.

In Exchange 2010, IRM in Outlook Web App allows your users to access the rich IRM functionality offered by Exchange to apply persistent IRM-protection to messaging content.

The following IRM functionality is available in Outlook Web App:

• Send IRM-protected messages   As shown in the following figure, Outlook Web App users can use the permissions drop-down list and select a rights policy template to apply to the message. This allows users to send IRM-protected messages from within Outlook Web App. Messages are IRM-protected by Client Access servers.
  
  
  
  
• IRM-protected attachments   When users send an IRM-protected message from Outlook Web App, any files attached to the message also receive the same IRM protection and are protected by using the same rights policy template as the message. In Exchange 2010, IRM protection is applied to files associated with Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as .xps files and e-mail messages. IRM protection is applied to an attachment only if it's not already IRM-protected. To learn more about Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) rights policy templates, see Understanding Information Rights Management.
  
  

  Note:
  IRM in Outlook Web App protects only the supported file attachments mentioned in this section. Attachments that use unsupported file formats aren't protected. When Outlook Web App users protect a message and attach a file of an unsupported type, a notification is displayed informing the users that only supported file types are protected.

  Important:
  IRM protection can't be applied to a message that's already signed or encrypted by using S/MIME. To apply IRM protection, S/MIME signature and encryption must be removed from the message. The same applies for IRM-protected messages; users can't sign or encrypt them by using S/MIME.

• Read IRM-protected messages   Messages protected by senders using your organization's AD RMS cluster are rendered in the preview pane in Outlook Web App. No add-ins need to be installed, and the computer doesn't need to be enrolled in the AD RMS deployment. When a user opens a message or views it in the preview pane, the message is decrypted by using the use license added by the Pre-licensing agent. After decryption, the message is displayed in the preview pane. If a pre-license isn't available, Outlook Web App requests one from the AD RMS server and then renders the message. When reading IRM-protected attachments in Outlook Web App, Web-Ready Document Viewing isn't available.
  
  

  Note:
  IRM in Outlook Web App can't prevent users from taking screen captures by using Print Screen functionality in the way Outlook and other Office applications do. This impacts the EXTRACT right, which prevents message content from being copied, if specified in the AD RMS rights policy template.

• Cross-browser, multiple platform IRM support   IRM in Outlook Web App offers cross-browser, multiple platform IRM support. IRM in Outlook Web App is supported in all browsers supported by Exchange 2010, including on Apple Macintosh and Linux operating systems. To learn more about supported browsers and operating systems, see Outlook Web App Supported Browsers.
  
  
• WebReady Document Viewing   In Exchange 2010 SP1, users can view supported IRM-protected attachments by using WebReady Document Viewing. This allows users to view supported attachments without having to download the attachment use the associated application. To learn more about WebReady Document Viewing, including the supported file formats, see Understanding File and Data Access for Outlook Web App.
  
  

Looking for management tasks related to managing IRM? See Managing Information Rights Management.

Enabling IRM in Outlook Web App

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