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Future problems accessing Microsoft email with "legacy" email protocols?

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  • Last reply by Matt

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My IT department sent out this alert. Will this prevent me from linking to my Microsoft Outlook email accounts or AT&T Yahoo! account?

Subject: Microsoft to Discontinuation of Legacy Email Protocols - June 2021

Lines of concern: "Legacy email access protocols such as; POP, SMTP, IMAP, and MAPI cannot enforce multi-factor authentication MFA. This provides a potential entry point for those with malicious intent to digitally attack accounts that use these outdated methods to access email. A majority of the Alliant community members are using a modern secure method to access their email; however, system reports indicate there are still a fair amount of users who access email via an outdated insecure method.

Listed below are secure and preferred methods to access Alliant Email from a computer or mobile device. If you are not already doing so, we recommend you establish one of the listed email management options before June 2021 to avoid potential inability to access your Alliant email."

Question: Thunderbird is not an option in the list. Will it still work to get email from (say) the Outlook email in organization's Microsoft email server?

Thanks, bacooper

My IT department sent out this alert. Will this prevent me from linking to my Microsoft Outlook email accounts or AT&T Yahoo! account? Subject: Microsoft to Discontinuation of Legacy Email Protocols - June 2021 Lines of concern: "Legacy email access protocols such as; POP, SMTP, IMAP, and MAPI cannot enforce multi-factor authentication MFA. This provides a potential entry point for those with malicious intent to digitally attack accounts that use these outdated methods to access email. A majority of the Alliant community members are using a modern secure method to access their email; however, system reports indicate there are still a fair amount of users who access email via an outdated insecure method. Listed below are secure and preferred methods to access Alliant Email from a computer or mobile device. If you are not already doing so, we recommend you establish one of the listed email management options before June 2021 to avoid potential inability to access your Alliant email." Question: Thunderbird is not an option in the list. Will it still work to get email from (say) the Outlook email in organization's Microsoft email server? Thanks, bacooper

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It is unfortunate that your IT department apparently does not know the difference between an email protocol and an authentication protocol. The change is about no longer allowing basic authentication for the protocols, not disabling the protocols.

This is what Microsoft is saying https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/exchange-online-basic-auth-deprecated Or in more detail https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/basic-authentication-and-exchange-online-february-2021-update/ba-p/2111904

This means that oauth will need to be used to authenticate outlook as it is already for yahoo and google. Thunderbird does support oauth or all three of those mentioned providers. It does not support oauth for custom domains using exchange.