Over the past week, one of the biggest stories on the Internet dealt with former Gizmodo and current Wired.com writer Mat Honan having many of his online accounts wiped out by a hacker. One of them was his Gmail account, which he says might not have happened if he had used two-factor authentication, which would have required both a new password and a code sent to a person"s smartphone.
It begs the question if every email service should have that kind of set up. Microsoft, however, says that they are trying to develop a way to have a strong security system in place for their recently launched Outlook.com service without the need for two-factor authentication.
Speaking with Mashable, Microsoft said that Outlook.com does require "strong passwords." Also, users can have Outlook.com sent single-use codes to their smartphones to sign onto a PC that they don"t own, such as at an Internet cafe.
However, it sounds like Microsoft doesn"t think that most people will go for the two-factor authentication system that"s an option for Gmail users. The Microsoft spokesperson said the company is putting a lot of resources into developing the security for Outlook.com during its open beta period and added that it is trying "to find a strong solution that everyone can use, vs. just the 1% of users that figure out how to navigate a bunch of additional setup options."
Source: Mashable