Microsoft has added a brand new security layer to its Office 365 email service because it appears to be like to enhance the integrity of the messages going out and in. The firm says its new safety, SMTP MTA Strict Transport Security (MTA-STS), a function it first introduced in H2 2020, will clear up issues equivalent to expired TLS certificates, issues with third-party certificates, or unsupported safe protocols."We have been validating our implementation and are now pleased to announce support for MTA-STS for all outgoing messages from Exchange Online," Microsoft stated in an announcement. In observe, the brand new security layer means all emails which might be despatched by way of Exchange Online will solely be delivered by way of connections which have each authentication and encryption. That ought to render downgrade, and man-in-the-middle assaults unattainable, or not less than - lots more durable to tug off."Downgrade attacks are possible where the STARTTLS response can be deleted, thus rendering the message in cleartext. Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks are also possible, whereby the message can be rerouted to an attacker's server," the announcement added."MTA-STS (RFC8461) helps thwart such attacks by providing a mechanism for setting domain policies that specify whether the receiving domain supports TLS and what to do when TLS can't be negotiated, for example stop the transmission."Those desirous about adopting MTA-STS ought to seek advice from this {link}, the place Microsoft explains the method intimately.The firm is already engaged on additional strengthening the security of Office 365 email. DANE for SMTP (DNS-based Authentication of Named Entities), which is claimed to supply even higher safety than MTA-STS, will likely be rolled out within the coming months. "We will deploy support for DANE for SMTP and DNSSEC in two phases. The first phase, DANE and DNSSEC for outbound email (from Exchange Online to external destinations), is slowly being deployed between now and March 2023. We expect the second phase, support for inbound email, to start by the end of 2023," BleepingComputer cited the Exchange staff."We've been working on support for both MTA-STS and DANE for SMTP. At the very least, we encourage customers to secure their domains with MTA-STS," Microsoft added."You can use both standards on the same domain at the same time, so customers are free to use both when Exchange Online offers inbound protection using DANE for SMTP by the end of 2023. By supporting both standards, you can account for senders who may support only one method."Via: BleepingComputer
