Enhancing Outlook’s Safety: Microsoft Introduces Significant Security Updates

Keeping your email locked down is extremely important in this online age. They’re usually among the very first access points that malicious actors attempt to access, since basically all your other online accounts are linked to it to one degree or another. Outlook is getting a bit more secure with a series of new changes.

Microsoft is shutting down support for Basic Authentication for personal Outlook accounts from September 16th, requiring users to adopt Modern Authentication methods. This move primarily affects older email apps that haven’t been updated to support the more secure login process. Modern Authentication has been supported on other Microsoft apps and services for years, so it’s about time Microsoft got started with it in Outlook. It’s never too late.

In addition, Microsoft is killing off the light version of the Outlook web app on August 19th, so if you want to keep using Outlook on the web, you’ll have to upgrade to a newer, more modern browser for improved security. The company will also stop supporting Gmail accounts within Outlook.com by the end of June, although Gmail integration will still be available in the new Outlook for Windows and Mac apps.

These changes are part of Microsoft’s broader Secure Future Initiative, which the company says it aims at modernizing and strengthening its security practices. Users of Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, and Live.com emails will need to ensure their email apps are compatible with Modern Authentication to continue accessing their accounts seamlessly.

Microsoft is actively communicating with affected users, guiding them through the necessary steps to update their email app settings or re-add their accounts if needed—we still have a few months before the most critical changes show up, but Microsoft wants to get everyone set up as quickly as possible before it becomes a problem. The company has also published a detailed support article with further information. If you haven’t moved your account yet to Modern Authentication for whatever reason, you’ll probably want to get that done when you get a chance. Don’t wait until September.

Source: The Verge