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What you need to know:
Microsoft will be decommissioning its Basic Authentication application, which St. Mary's has long used to enable email authentication, and moving to "Modern Authentication". As part of our efforts to migrate our Multi-Factor platform to a higher security levels, we will have to implement Modern Authentication for our email services.
Please check to ensure you are using the updated version of Microsoft Outlook for your computer and the Microsoft Outlook mobile app for your mobile devices. In addition, please read the Known Modern Authentication Impacts to ensure you are ready for the move to Modern Authentication.
To support the campus transition to Modern Authentication, TCS staff will be visiting campus departments to provide assistance and will continue to do so until all areas have been assisted.
In the meantime, here's what you need to know to begin using the new process, called Modern Authentication.
What Do I Need to Do?
Please check to ensure you are using the updated version of Microsoft Outlook for your computer and the Microsoft Outlook mobile app for your mobile devices.
Check your version of Outlook on your Computer:
Click here for instructions on how to check your version of Outlook on a PC and Mac.
If you are using the following versions of Outlook on your computer, you do not need to do anything.
- Outlook 2016 or 2019 for Windows
- Outlook 2016 or 2019 for Mac OS
If you are not using the above versions:
For St. Mary's-owned Computers, you have two options:
Non St. Mary's-Owned Computers:
- Option 1: Please upgrade to the newest version of Office 365 by following these instructions:
- Option 2: Access your email using webmail from Outlook online
What are the Benefits of "Modern Authentication"?
Modern Authentication is the term that Microsoft and Google Services use to refer to their implementation of a specific framework for client/server authentication. While google made this change June 2020 Microsoft extended this service until the end of 2020 but we did not want to disrupt services in the middle of the Fall semester.
Benefits of Modern Authentication for St. Mary's:
- Enables a more secure sign-in for Office 365 applications (Outlook, St. Mary's Office 365 Email, Teams, etc.);
- Prevents common attacks to better protect accounts; and
- Disables the less secure POP and IMAP protocols and better positions St. Mary's for future enhancements.
What Does This Mean?
Known Modern Authentication Impacts:
- Non-Outlook Email Applications: Any email application using POP or IMAP (e.g., the "Mail" app on your Mac) will no longer work. We recommend moving to Microsoft Outlook for your computer and installing the Microsoft Outlook app for your mobile devices.
- St. Mary's email accounts linked to non-St. Mary's email services: The linking of your St. Mary's email account to Gmail, Yahoo! or Hotmail (for example, so you can see all your messages in one inbox), will no longer function.
Check your version of Outlook on your Mobile Device
We recommend that you use the Microsoft Outlook mobile app on your mobile device(s) to access your St. Mary's email and calendar. The native (built-in) mail and calendar clients may not work with Modern Authentication (e.g., the "Mail" app on your iPhone).
- Please note: The Microsoft Outlook mobile app will be the only mail and calendar application supported by St. Mary's.
To get the Microsoft Outlook mobile app, please follow this link from your mobile device:
Get Outlook for iOS and Android