Basic Authentication Unavailable Beginning August 17

Northwestern IT is disabling Basic Authentication on Wednesday, August 17, for accounts that have yet to move to modern authentication to access University email and Microsoft 365 applications. Impacted users have been notified and will receive additional reminders in June and August.

As background, Microsoft is shutting down Basic Authentication in October. On August 17, devices and applications will need to use modern authentication to access, or interact with, University Outlook email and Microsoft 365 applications. The change aligns with the industry standard of how Microsoft and Google plan to allow devices and applications to sign into their systems going forward and better protects NetIDs and passwords from the risk of compromise.

How to Prepare

• Accounts using older versions of Outlook, an email solution other than Outlook, or a device with an older operating system may need to upgrade. Instructions are available in the Email and Modern Authentication Guide.  
• Access to University email is always available through Northwestern webmail. 

Anyone with questions can contact the Northwestern IT Service Desk at consultant@northwestern.edu or 847-491-4357 (1-HELP).