There have been a lot of updates, recently, related to the enhanced security feature available for Outlook users. With the security enhancement, Microsoft says that it will become easier for IT personnel to configure access for Office 365 sign-ins, manage and control Outlook. The update will enable improved authentication for Android and iOS Outlook users who are Office 365 Exchange Online subscribers.

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What brings in this enhanced security?

Microsoft will enable this with OAuth, which is an ‘Internet Engineering Task Force open specification’ that enables authorization of Web-enabled apps. The users will have an Office 365 login to be able to connect to Office 365 mailbox from Outlook. They will be prompted to login again, that will trigger a new ADAL (Active Directory Authentication Library) authentication page. With ADAL, now turned on for Exchange    online users, their account will be converted to OAuth and authentication will be on Azure Active Directory. This directory is an identity provider service used for Office 365 accounts.

“With ADAL-based authentication that enables OAuth for Office 365 accounts, we have heightened Outlook with improved security so users may access e-mails without their credentials. The users will be authenticated directly with Office 365, at the time of sign-in, and will receive an access token, with the help of which one can access the mailbox”, explains the Microsoft announcement.