Microsoft Authenticator Picks Up Security Notifications

Microsoft’s invaluable Authenticator mobile app just got even better, with support for security notifications.

“When important events—such as a password change—happen on your personal Microsoft account, Microsoft Authenticator will send you a notification,” Microsoft’s Alex Simons explains. “You can then view your account activity and take actions to protect your account if needed. The goal of these notifications is to increase awareness and help you react quickly if there is unexpected activity.”

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

As you hopefully know, Microsoft Authenticator is one of the key methods by which you can better secure your Microsoft account (MSA). Launched in 2016—after a brief stint as “Azure Authenticator,” Microsoft Authenticator lets you use multi-factor authentication (MFA)—sometimes called two-factor authentication or two-step authentication in the consumer world—with your phone. So when you need to sign-in to your MSA, your phone will trigger a notification so you can approve that sign-in.

According to Microsoft, the latest release of this app will now trigger alerts when it detects sensitive or unusual actions on your MSA, such as changing your password, adding a new phone number or email address, or signing in from a new device or unusual location. And if you see suspicious behavior, you can view your account activity and take necessary actions to protect your account, including changing your password and updating your security contact information, right from within the app.

You can learn more about the Microsoft Authenticator app from the Microsoft website. I strongly recommend you use this app to protect your MSA.

Download Microsoft Authenticator for Android
Download Microsoft Authenticator for iOS

Tagged with

Share post

Please check our Community Guidelines before commenting

Conversation 3 comments

  • markbyrn

    Premium Member
    05 February, 2019 - 9:49 am

    <p>Good to hear. Is it possible to login to Windows using the auth app? Only have the option to login with password or pin.</p>

  • bls

    Premium Member
    06 February, 2019 - 5:55 pm

    <p>This is great news. Microsoft's Authenticator app and underlying services are spectacular. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">At one end of the spectrum is Microsoft, making massive investments in security technologies resulting in highly secure capabilities with incredible ease of use. At the other extreme, I </span>recently tried a horrible Symantec VIP implementation at a large financial service, and they are about 3 steps behind Microsoft in their authentication implementation, which forces you have to add the 6-digit VIP code to your password. Each time. It's secure, but amazingly frustrating on a desktop and completely unusable on a mobile device. </p>

  • rrraa

    29 April, 2019 - 2:10 am

    <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">One of the most overlooked things about iOS and iPhones are the crazy expensive apps and services that live on </span><a href="https://clipboardwindows10.com/&quot; target="_blank">clipboard history</a> in<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> the App Store.</span></p>

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Thurrott © 2024 Thurrott LLC