Enable additional new Security Features for your Microsoft Account

[javajolt]

The year 2013 hasn’t been the greatest year for Internet Security. With the news about NSA Spying and multiple internet hacks, privacy on the Internet is getting harder to achieve every passing day. Microsoft has been working hard behind the scenes, listening to your feedback and making your Windows experience as secure as possible. They released a number of security updates which will be gradually rolled out over the next couple of weeks that make your Internet endeavours a lot more secure.

New security features in Microsoft Account

Here is a list of some of the new security features that have been added to Microsoft Account.

Recovery Code

Microsoft had already released 2 Step Verification¹ for Microsoft accounts in the past, which in our opinion is the biggest wall you can put up between you and the hackers. When using 2 Step Verification, you rely on two sets of passwords. One is your default password that you assign yourself and other is a security code sent to you via e-mail, SMS, phone call, or an authenticator app on your mobile device. While it is a very useful feature, you might be stuck in an area without Cell reception making you unable to access the internet or revive the code via SMS. But now with Recovery Codes, you don’t have to worry about that. You can now create a Recovery Code when you have access to your account and use it to access your account when other security information doesn’t work. You can request a Recovery Code by going into ‘Security Info‘ from your Microsoft account.



Recent Activity

From the Recent Activity menu of your Microsoft Account settings, you can now view a detailed log of all your sign in activities across different devices and platforms. You can view successful and unsuccessful sign-ins, the addition and deletion of security information and more. When you click on an activity you get a detailed description about the IP address of the PC or device used, the type of device and operating system it was running and which browser or app was used to access your Microsoft account. If it wasn’t you who made the log in attempt, you can click the “This wasn’t me” button which will guide through the process of securing your account. If on the other hand you are prompted about unusual activity on your Microsoft account while it was you who was accessing it. Click the “This was me” button and the log in location will be added to the safe list.



Security Notifications

You now have a much larger control over the security notifications that you get. If you have multiple e-mail accounts and Phone numbers linked to a single Microsoft account, you can customize which portals get a security notifications and which don’t. This should decrease the information overload significantly. You can customize the Security notifications by going into Notifications -> Security from your Microsoft Account.



The security features will start rolling out to users in batches, so you might have to wait some time before you have access to them, says Microsoft.

¹

Spoiler for :

Enable 2-step verification in Microsoft Account

Microsoft has just announced the introduction of the long-awaited 2-step verification process for Microsoft Account. This security feature will be rolled out to all, over the next few days.

Today, a Microsoft Account has become a key that unlocks everything from a Windows 8 PC to your Windows Phone, from Xbox to Outlook.com, from SkyDrive and Skype to Office and more. It is with this in mind, that Microsoft decided to add an additional layer of security, with the introduction of the optional 2-step verification.

A 2-step verification means that Microsoft will ask you for two pieces of information anytime you access your account. For instance it could be your password plus a code that would be sent to your registered phone or email.

Enable 2-step verification in Microsoft Account

To enable the 2-step verification in your Microsoft Account, go to account.live.com/proofs/Manage and do the needful.



Now anytime you access your Microsoft Account, you will be sent a code, which you will be required to input.



For Windows Phone, Microsoft has released a Microsoft Authenticator app, that supports a standard protocol for two-step verification codes and can be used with your Microsoft account and other systems that support two-step verification codes, like Google and Dropbox.

"Previously we had a notion of trusted devices that was similar but only worked for IE and required you to manage a list if you had too many devices. With this release we’ve simplified things — you can skip codes on all modern browsers across major platforms, and you never have to manage the list. If you ever lose or sell a device, you can still choose to revoke these “trusted devices” by going to your security settings on account.live.com, says Microsoft."

On devices you use regularly, you can select an option to not ask for security codes.

Just in case you didn’t know – You can now sign in to your Microsoft Account using any alias.