M365 Changelog: Basic Authentication – All Protocols

MC302177 – Microsoft is making some changes to improve the security of your tenant. Microsoft announced in 2019 they would be retiring Basic Authentication for legacy protocols and in early 2021 they announced they would begin to retire Basic Authentication for protocols not being used in tenants. 

14 days from today Microsoft is going to turn off Basic Authentication for POP3, IMAP4, Remote PowerShell, Exchange Web Services, Offline Address Book, MAPI, RPC and Exchange ActiveSync protocol in your tenant, and will also disable SMTP AUTH completely. 

Note: Based on Microsoft’s telemetry, no users in your tenant are currently using Basic Authentication with those protocols and so Microsoft expects there to be no impact to you. 

Microsoft previously communicated this change via Message Center: MC191153 (Sept. ‘19), MC204828 (Feb. ‘20), MC208814 (April ‘20) and MC23771 (Feb. ‘21) and you can always read the latest information about Microsoft’s plans to turn off Basic Authentication here.

Microsoft will send another Message Center post when they make the change. You may receive additional notifications if any other protocols could be affected.

How this will affect your organization:

Once this change is made, users in your tenant will be unable to access their Exchange Online mailbox using Basic Authentication and these specific protocols.

If Modern Auth for Outlook for Windows is not already enabled in your tenant, Microsoft will also enable it, ensuring you can connect securely using up-to-date versions of Outlook. Please see here for additional information. 

Opting Out of this Change:

You can opt out of this change by following the steps outlined here within the next 14 days. 

What you need to do to prepare:

This is for your awareness only. If you experience any issues, please follow your standard support processes.