Not everyone may be aware of this, but account security has recently become an immediate priority for Microsoft. The company recently rolled out two-factor authentication for user accounts earlier this year.
But behind the curtains, the company seems to have lined up several notable improvements. We have not heard an official statement from Redmond on this, but the company is rumored to be working on even more security enhancements.
According to this report, the company is gearing up to introduce a new set of security enhancements for user accounts with the intention of not only making them more secure, but also allowing users better management options for their private information.
First up on the agenda is a recent account activity section that would show recent activities (surprise) like successful sign-ins and attempts for account recovery. Each entry will list the IP address, location, date and time, device, platform and browser details of these account recovery attempts.
Also new will be a ‘This wasn’t me’ button that will allow users to easily report suspicious activities, and quickly change passwords.
The company is also looking to implement new account recovery options that will be in the form of security codes. And finally, security notifications are also on track to be enhanced with a bunch of handy new options.
Users, for example, will have the option to be alerted whenever someone fails to log into their accounts. They will be able to get these alerts via email, even mobile devices.
File this as a (totally credible) rumor for now, but there is a chance that Microsoft will provide official details on this soon, as we near launch of these features.
All Comments
Security has been a major concern of theirs for a while now along with a few other things, but you simply can’t get some people to get out of their early 2000s thinking about Microsoft.
Yeah, I think almost everyone would agree (even Microsoft naysayers) that the company has amped up the security of its products overall. But now with attention shifting to unification, the same factors are coming to user accounts.
If we get everything that this report claims, it should be a total, total win!
Well, at least they are being more diligent about this than anyone else on a continuing basis. Good job, old chaps!