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Overview
To enhance the university’s email security and reduce the impact of compromised accounts, outbound email sending limits are being enforced.
Who is Affected
- Students → Enforcement is active now
- Faculty & Staff → Not enforced at this time (Audit Mode only). Activity is being monitored for future evaluation
Sending Limits (Students)
Student email accounts are now limited to:
- Maximum of 200 emails per hour, OR
- Maximum of 500 emails per day
(Whichever limit is reached first will trigger enforcement)
What Happens If You Reach the Limit
If your account exceeds the sending limit:
- You will be blocked from sending emails and will remain restricted until you contact the Service Desk and your account is reviewed and unblocked.
- You will still be able to receive emails normally
How to Restore Sending Access
To regain the ability to send emails:
- Contact Support
- Open a ticket or call the Service Desk
- Security Review
- Your request will be reviewed by the Security Team
- They will verify that:
- The activity is legitimate
- Your account is not compromised
- No spam or phishing emails were sent
- Unblock Process
- Once verified, your account will be unblocked
- Sending capability will be restored, subject to the same imposed sending limits starting the following day.
Why This Change Was Implemented
This policy helps to:
- Protect accounts being compromised or misused.
- Reduce the spread of spam and phishing emails
- Improve the university’s overall email security posture
Important Notes
- Limits apply to the number of individual recipients, not just the number of emails.
A single email sent to many recipients counts toward the limit and may be blocked if exceeded. Emails sent to a distribution group count as one recipient.
- Automated or bulk emailing may reach limits quickly.
- If you regularly send emails to a fixed or large group of recipients that approaches or exceeds the sending limits, it is recommended to use a Microsoft 365 Distribution Group or a Listserv mailing list instead of individual recipients. This helps avoid hitting sending limits, as distribution groups count as a single recipient.
Please note that mailing lists must follow university communication policies, including allowing recipients the option to opt out where applicable.
- Faculty and Staff are currently not impacted, but future enforcement may occur.
- Exclusions (Temporary or Permanent) may be requested for legitimate business or academic needs.
Still need help? Click the 'Purdue IT Request' button to start a ticket.