When it comes to cyber security, one of your greatest vulnerabilities is your gap in knowledge. If actions are not taken, all applications using basic authentication to access Exchange Online will stop working. This shift to modern authentication requires that every app, program or service connected to Microsoft 365 authenticates itself. How Will This Impact Organizations and Businesses? In addition, modern authentication enables the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) which adds yet another layer of security. To put it simply, modern authentication (also known as OAuth 2.0) is a standard that can grant access to other system’s information without giving them the password. Temporary access is then granted using a token, which has an expiration. Once they log in, they need to accept an app’s request to access their account. In order to grant access, a user first needs to log into their account using the traditional Microsoft 365 login experience.

Modern authentication prevents apps from saving Microsoft 365 account credentials. In a perfect, modern-day world, the security best practice would be to only allow access to the data and resources required for an application to function. In other words, if someone gains access to your login and password, they get the keys to the kingdom. In addition, basic authentication doesn’t support various levels of permissions. When this happens, those applications store credentials within their settings, presenting a huge opportunity for bad actors to gain access. An example is logging into an app, service or add-in with a login and password. What is Basic Authentication?īasic authentication is the simplest form of security we are all accustomed to. Microsoft’s latest major announcement centers around disabling basic authentication which is scheduled to take place October 2022. Cybercrime is a hot topic today and when Microsoft makes big changes, other industry vendors tend to follow. If you’re familiar with our blog, you’ll find a common theme of cyber security.

Exchange online modern authentication