On May 24, 2021, Indiana Tech will discontinue support for Basic Authentication, an older, less secure way of accessing Office 365 services. When this change takes effect, some email and calendar clients and mobile apps will stop working with Office 365. To find out if this change will affect you and what you will need to do, see next steps below.

BACKGROUND

Historically, Microsoft has supported many ways of accessing email and calendars. The most popular being Outlook, Outlook Mobile, and Outlook on the Web, but other clients and apps were also compatible with the service. These include the built-in Mail and Calendar apps that come with MacOS, iOS, and Android, as well as older desktop applications like Eudora, Pine, and Thunderbird. Many of these older applications use Basic Authentication, a login method that is unsecure and susceptible to compromise.

With cyber-attacks becoming, not only more common, but also more sophisticated, we have decided to phase out legacy authentication methods to decrease the surface area for potential malicious activity. This will make it difficult for hackers and scammers to access an account with a stolen password. We will roll this change out gradually, starting with the protocols that are attractive to cyber-attackers such as SMTP and IMAP authentication, which 90% of login attempts are targeting. Over the following weeks we will block additional protocols completing the change no later than June 1, 2021. To prepare for this change, below are the applications and devices that support modern authentication protocols, and what you need to do:

 

OUTLOOK

Outlook on the Web

If you use a web browser to check your mail/calendar by logging into Office 365, then you do not need to do anything. Outlook on the Web already uses Microsoft's secure login.

Outlook for PC and Mac

Depending on which version of Outlook you use, you may need to upgrade. (Find the version of Outlook I’m using)

  •    Outlook 2016 or newer: No action needed 
  • Outlook 2013, 2010, 2008, or 2007: You will need to upgrade to the latest version of Office 365.  


Outlook Mobile Apps

The Outlook mobile apps for iOS and Android are fully compatible with Microsoft's secure login requirement. If you are using Outlook on a mobile device, no action is needed.

 

OTHER MAIL AND CALENDAR APPLICATIONS

Mac Mail and Calendar 

  • Mac OS 10.14 (Mojave) and newer: The Mail and Calendar apps that come with Mac OS 10.14 (Mojave) and Mac OS 10.15 (Catalina) will continue to work. Depending on how you originally set up your Mac, you may need to delete and re-add your email/calendar account profile to avoid a service interruption. 
  • Mac OS 10.13 and older: The built-in Mail and Calendar apps that came with Mac OS 10.13 or older will not work. To continue using those apps, you will need to upgrade your Mac OS, or you can switch to using Outlook for Mac or Outlook on the Web.  

 

IMAP/POP Applications like Thunderbird, Eudora, PINE, etc.

Email applications that use Basic Authentication in combination with POP, IMAP, or Exchange ActiveSync will stop working. Examples include Thunderbird, Eudora, PINE, and the current POP version of Gmail's "Check mail from another account" feature. If your application's developer offers a version that supports Modern Authentication, you can upgrade. If an updated version is not available, we recommend switching to the latest version of Outlook or using Outlook on the Web. 

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR POP USERS

Many POP clients delete messages from the server once they have been downloaded to your computer. To avoid losing saved messages, make sure you have backed up your locally stored messages before uninstalling your old email client. 

iOS Mail and Calendar Mobile Apps (Built-In)

  • iOS 11 or newer: The Mail and Calendar apps that come with iOS 11 or newer will continue to work; however, you may need to delete and re-add your email/calendar account to avoid a service interruption.
  • iOS 10 and older: The built-in Mail and Calendar apps for iOS 10 and older will not work. We recommend upgrading your device to the latest version of iOS or switching to Outlook for iOS.

 

Android Mail and Calendar Mobile Apps

Android does not support Microsoft's new method of logging in. To avoid a service interruption, you will need to install the Outlook mobile app.