On January 8, 2018, IT system administrators will make a change to the employee email system to enable “modern authentication” in Office 365. Modern authentication includes a sign-in method that replaces the Windows security dialog box normally seen when prompted for credentials in Office applications such as Outlook. It is more than just a different look; it represents a change in the format and flow of data in the authentication and authorization process. Modern Authentication provides some features that legacy sign-in methods do not. These features will mostly be invisible to the user, but there are important improvements in security and reliability in the background.
The most recent versions of Outlook have built-in support for modern authentication, while older clients will continue to authenticate with Office 365 using basic authentication. If, on Monday 1/8/18, your computer prompts you for your email username and password in a new way, this is expected behavior and should not cause alarm. That said, if you have any questions at all, you can contact the IT Help Desk at x5222 or helpdesk@olemiss.edu.
Tags: infosec, IT Security, MS Outlook, Office 365