Thread: Security upgrades in the new Hotmail

We were excited to share with you last week a preview of the brand new Hotmail, available starting later this summer. To follow up, we wanted to share a little more detail around some of the security investments we’ve made in the new Hotmail.

Security remains the number one concern of people who use email and a top priority for all Microsoft development efforts, products, and services – Hotmail included.


Among the several security enhancements we made in the new Hotmail, here are a few in particular that we’d like to call out.

Account recovery

The new security platform elements we've built up around Hotmail now enable you to use your cell phone or other items as proof of account ownership. For example, if you lose your password, or, worse, if your account gets compromised, we can now send you an account recapture code via SMS to regain access to your account.

Single-use codes

This new security feature is designed to further protect you when you sign in from a public computer, such as those found in internet cafés, airports, and coffee shops. When you request a single-use code, the code is sent via SMS to the phone number associated with your Windows Live ID. It acts as a one-time substitute for your password. By using a single-use code, you won't have to type your password into a public computer, thereby helping to prevent it from being stolen by key loggers and the like.

Request a single-use code… …then use the code to sign in to Hotmail Full-session SSL

In addition to providing SSL encryption at login for all accounts, the new Hotmail will soon support the option to maintain SSL encryption between you and our servers during your entire Hotmail session.

Trusted senders

Hotmail will help you to visually identify trusted senders in your inbox, particularly banks and other institutions commonly used for phishing scams. We put safety logos next to only those senders that we recognize as legitimate so that you can more easily spot malicious imitators.

John Scarrow
General Manager - Safety Services

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Its about time they improved the security and full ssl, im impressed this single use code is a good idea, its been on paypal for a while and i haven't had a problem since...well apart from having to find my phone every time