Security Update: New Google Calendar Protections for Campus

What is Changing?

Moving forward, Google Calendar invitations will only be automatically added to your schedule if they come from known senders.

Known senders include:

• Anyone with an @lclark.edu email address.
• Individuals already saved in your Google Contacts.

How to Handle Invitations from Unknown Senders

If you receive an invitation from someone outside of the categories above, it will not automatically appear on your calendar. Instead, Google sends an email invitation featuring an ‘Invitation from an unknown sender’ warning, prompting users to choose either:

• I know this sender: This will add the event to your calendar and recognize the sender for all future invitations.
• Report spam: This flags the invitation as a security risk and helps protect the rest of the community.

This change is part of a broader effort across higher education to combat malicious spam events targeting Google Workspace users. By restricting automatic additions, we significantly reduce the visibility of phishing attempts while maintaining our ability to collaborate with external partners.

Pro Tip: If you frequently work with external vendors or partners, we recommend adding their email addresses to your Google Contacts to ensure their invitations continue to sync seamlessly.

If you receive a suspicious invitation or have any questions, please reach out to the IT Service Desk at ITService@lclark.edu.

Thank you for your partnership in keeping our campus secure.

Lewis & Clark Information Security