[Gmail]: Email Forwarding - Disabling Feature for Selected/Individuals User [Security]

[redlobster111]

Hi there, 

I would like to check if it is possible for a paid Google Workspace User - to disable the Email Forwarding Feature. Meaning to say that as a administrator of Google Workspace Business Starter - I will have the feature to control/select which users have the privilege to permit email forwarding to external party, or permit email forwarding within the domain name. 

At the present moment, allowing my users within my domain the freedom to forward email to external parties posses a security threat to my organization. Thanks 

[icrew]

Yup! You can disable forwarding on a per-OU basis. Check out https://support.google.com/a/answer/2491924 for all the details.

Cheers,

Ian

[cryptochrome]

Note that this will only prevent automatic forwarding (e. g. forwarding based on filters). Manual forwarding is still possible and not controllable. Technically, forwarding a message is like sending a message. 

Another option would be to set up content compliance rules. Match on outgoing mails with "Forwarded message" in the body (which Gmail adds when forwarding), or "Fwd:" at the beginning of the subject header. Set the action to "reject" or "quarantine".

Then again, users can easily delete the "forwarded message" part from the mail and change the subject before sending it. So it's not a 100% solution either.