Improved security for Exchange prevents password-only access

By the end of the month, Microsoft is removing basic authentication for Exchange Online and this will affect all businesses that store their email in Microsoft's cloud. Basic authentication is simply a username and password which is less secure as it can be open to attacks, such as easily guessed dates or words.

Businesses using older mail applications that only use basic authentication will find themselves blocked from their email. Modern applications use "Modern Authentication," based on OAuth 2.0, which is more secure. Updating your email applications is a simple way for businesses to meet the new security standards.

"If businesses are using older applications to access Exchange data, perhaps using the calendar functionality to post or review events for example, and these applications are accessing the data simply using a username and password, then that functionality will stop working," explains Chris Joberns, Managing Director at Strident. "Modern versions of Microsoft 365, including Teams and Outlook, will use OAuth 2.0 which also supports multifactor authentication, and many other business applications support this standard too. We would strongly encourage all businesses to run the latest secure versions of any software they are using."

To find out more about Microsoft 365 and secure communications, call Strident on 01473 835 280.