We have already mentioned on Saturday that Microsoft would improve the security of their email service Hotmail by offering HTTPS connections as an alternative to standard HTTP connections. Back then the feature was not available for all Hotmail users, as Microsoft rolled it out in batches to ensure an error free transition.
The Hotmail Sign In page, and every other Hotmail page for that matter, is now accessible via HTTPS and HTTP. Hotmail users have the option to switch completely to HTTPS whenever they access the emailing service, to continue connecting via HTTP to Hotmail or to use HTTPS for individual connections.
They have two options to enable HTTPS permanently. The first option is to open https://account.live.com/ManageSSL, the second to load hotmail by opening https://www.hotmail.com/. Both choices display a sign in form that redirects to a configuration page.
Hotmail users should take note of the information on that page, especially the following paragraph:
mportant note: Turning on HTTPS will work for Hotmail over the web, but it will cause errors if you try to access Hotmail through programs like:
Outlook Hotmail Connector
Windows Live Mail
The Windows Live application for Windows Mobile and Nokia
What does it mean? It means that connections to Hotmail via Outlook Hotmail Connector, Windows Live Mail and the Windows Live application for Windows Mobile and Nokia won’t work anymore. Hotmail users who make use of these applications should not activate HTTPS permanently. The valid option for them is to load the HTTPS sign in page but cancel the request to always enable HTTPs when connecting to Hotmail.
This way they can connect to the Hotmail web page via HTTPS and continue connecting to the Hotmail account in other applications. Additional information are available at a Windows Live Inside blog post.
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What about POP access ? Would that be affected ?
Doesn’t affect POP access. I just checked. Besides, I only uses POP to access Hotmail (and Gmail).
So don’t use Outlook connector or windows live mail or mobile app on a public wifi network otherwise you are giving out your Microsoft windows live username and password to the public! Only use the web interface. Come on MS – get this sorted quickly. Cybercrime and ID theft etc is over a trillion dollar business now, more than drug trade and basic issues like this just make it so much easier for organised crime.