Microsoft has announced that owners of personal Outlook accounts will need to add a modern authentication method, which means that logging in by entering only the email address and password will not be enough.
The company has indicated in a statement that it wants to ensure that its customers’ emails, calendars, documents and contacts are protected against unauthorized access, which is why it has “reinforced its commitment to security”, in line with the Initiative future insurance (SFI).
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This is represented by a change in its authentication policy for personal email accounts, that is, those that include the domains ‘outlook.com’, ‘hotmail.com’ and ‘live.com’, as it has commented in its Blog.
Starting September 16, the owners of these accounts will have to switch to “modern authentication methods” in the email application. This means that it will not be enough to protect accounts with a username and password, but other security protections must be applied.
The firm has commented that “while basic authentication was the standard for quite some time,” it also made it easier for cybercriminals to access users’ login data, something that “increased the risk that those stolen credentials would be reused to gain access to your email” and personal information.
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To avoid this type of security incident, from this date Outlook will force users with Microsoft email accounts to use an application that supports modern authentication, such as the latest versions of this service for iOS, Android, Outlook for Mac or Windows version; Apple Mail or Thunderbird.
On the other hand, Microsoft has announced that, to “provide the most secure email experience” to its customers, the Mail and Calendar applications will no longer be supported and will not be available in the Microsoft Store by the end of 2024.
Finally, it has indicated that the simple version of Outlook Web App will no longer be compatible with older browsers after August 19. This means that in order to use it, users must download Microsoft Edge and Chrome (version 79 or later), Firefox (version 78 or later), Safari (from version 16 and later) and Opera (v.76 or later).
