STIGUI
V-223356CAT II — Medium severitySV-223356r1117184_rule

The minimum encryption key length in Outlook must be at least 168.

Rule version O365-OU-000011 · STIG v3 · 2026-02-12

Discussion

This policy setting allows you to set the minimum key length for an encrypted e-mail message.

If you enable this policy setting, you may set the minimum key length for an encrypted e-mail message. Outlook will display a warning dialog if the user tries to send a message using an encryption key that is below the minimum encryption key value set. The user can still choose to ignore the warning and send using the encryption key originally chosen.

If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, a dialog warning will be shown to the user if the user attempts to send a message using encryption. The user can still choose to ignore the warning and send using the encryption key originally chosen.

Check

Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Outlook 2016 >> Security >> Cryptography >> Minimum encryption settings is set to "Enabled" and a Minimum key size (in bits) of "168" or above.

Use the Windows Registry to navigate to the following key:

HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\outlook\security

If the value for minenckey is set to 168 or above, this is not a finding.

Fix

Set the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Outlook 2016 >> Security >> Cryptography >> Minimum encryption settings to "Enabled"and a Minimum key size (in bits) of "168" or above.

Identifiers

Group ID
V-223356
Group title
SRG-APP-000630
Rule ID
SV-223356r1117184_rule
Check ID
C-25029r442287_chk
Fix ID
F-25017r442288_fix