Please note:
- If you use Microsoft 365 Outlook email, the following information does not affect you
- If you set up your email many years ago, the following information may affect you
How this may impact you
Microsoft Exchange Online provides our University’s @bath.ac.uk messaging services (ie. email and calendar) and interacts with other services so you can receive messages through applications such as Outlook or Mail for iOS.
As part of its effort to reduce the risk of cybercrime, Microsoft has imposed that from Saturday, 1 October applications that only use basic authentication methods will be blocked from interacting with our University's Mail Exchange Online system.
Affected applications include:
- versions of Outlook for Windows and Mac that are older than Outlook 2016.
- older versions of mail apps on iOS and Android mobile devices.
- applications and services which use Exchange Web Services (EWS).
If you receive your @bath.ac.uk mail through an application which relies on basic authentication methods, you will not be able to receive your University email after Saturday 1 October.
University-managed devices are unlikely to be affected as University software and applications use modern authentication methods. However personal devices such as laptops and phones may be impacted depending on their age and your chosen messaging application.
Why applications that only use basic authentication methods will be blocked
An application that uses Basic Authentication will store your username and password on your device and will resend these personal credentials each time a connection request is made to Microsoft Exchange Online.
This storage, reuse and resending of credentials bring higher vulnerability to cybercrime compared to modern authentication methods.
In addition, applications which support modern authentication offer enhanced security by allowing you to layer up your security with multi-factor authentication methods, such as one-time passcodes.
What you need to do
If your email application will be affected, you need to do the following to maintain access to your University email:
- Change to a different messaging application that supports modern authentication methods - we recommend using Outlook.
- Update or change your device if it is unable to support messaging applications which support modern authentication methods. Support for modern authentication is available in the default mail clients of Android (depending on manufacturer) iOS 11 or later, iPadOS 13.1 or later, macOS 10.14 or later and Windows 10+.
Further help and support
Please request IT Support if you are unable to access your University email after Saturday 1 October.