Microsoft Defender for Office 365
Email and collaborationAttack Simulation Training Faq
In brief
The FAQ now explains that delivery uses each recipient’s mailbox time zone with “not before” logic. Recipients receive simulations at the scheduled local time and never earlier.
What Defender admins need to know
Administrators can more accurately plan and interpret simulation delivery times across regions. No action is required.
Summaries are generated from the documentation change itself.
Documentation change
View on Microsoft LearnThe comparison below shows only the changed extract. Use the full-page view for complete context.
Q: How does region aware delivery work?
A: Region aware delivery uses the time zone attribute of the targeted user's mailboxmailbox, with "not before" logic, to determine when to deliver the message. There might be aEach recipient receives the simulation at the scheduled time difference of ± one hourday in the email delivery basedtheir own mailbox time zone, and never before it. If that local time has already passed on the user'slaunch day, the recipient receives the message at the same local time zone.on the following day. Because simulation messages are delivered in throttled batches, delivery completes progressively after the scheduled start and might take longer for large simulations. For example, consider the following scenario:
- At 7:00 AM in the Pacific time zone (UTC-8), an admin creates and schedules a campaign to start at 9:00 AM on the same day.
- UserA is in the Eastern time zone (UTC-5).
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ ms.custom: - msecd-doc-authoring-1016 description: Admins can learn about deployment considerations and frequently asked questions regarding Attack simulation and training in Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 organizations. ms.service: defender-office-365-ms.date: 07/03/2026+ms.date: 07/30/2026 appliesto: - ✅ <a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/defender-office-365/mdo-about#defender-for-office-365-plan-1-vs-plan-2-cheat-sheet" target="_blank">Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 2</a> ai-usage: ai-assisted@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ A: No. Currently, cross-organization simulations aren't supported. Verify that a ### Q: How does region aware delivery work? -A: Region aware delivery uses the time zone attribute of the targeted user's mailbox to determine when to deliver the message. There might be a time difference of ± one hour in the email delivery based on the user's time zone. For example, consider the following scenario:+A: Region aware delivery uses the time zone attribute of the targeted user's mailbox, with "not before" logic, to determine when to deliver the message. Each recipient receives the simulation at the scheduled time of day in their own mailbox time zone, and never before it. If that local time has already passed on the launch day, the recipient receives the message at the same local time on the following day. Because simulation messages are delivered in throttled batches, delivery completes progressively after the scheduled start and might take longer for large simulations. For example, consider the following scenario: - At 7:00 AM in the Pacific time zone (UTC-8), an admin creates and schedules a campaign to start at 9:00 AM on the same day. - UserA is in the Eastern time zone (UTC-5).