Back in November we introduced the option to enable full-session HTTPS encryption (SSL) for your Hotmail account. Having a system you can trust was our number one priority. So we made the decision to enforce SSL for all your Hotmail connections when you enable the SSL option on your account. That meant that we had to disable connections from email programs like Windows Live Mail that didn’t support SSL.
Since then, more than two million users have opted-in for this additional protection.
Today I'm pleased to announce that we’ve expanded our SSL protection for Hotmail and other Windows Live services. These enhancements resolve your top two requests related to SSL support: You wanted the same SSL protection when using Windows Live Mail or Outlook, and you wanted more websites protected by SSL.
Note that, because most feature phones don’t support SSL connections, we still disable connections from those phones if you enable HTTPS. If you are affected by this, we recommend using Exchange ActiveSync or POP3 from your phone, both of which provide 100% HTTPS connections.
- We've updated Windows Live Mail to switch all traffic to SSL. There's no need to opt in to this feature; once you install the latest version of Mail, you'll automatically use SSL all the time. You can download the latest version of Windows Live Mail, or wait until your computer automatically upgrades.
- We've updated the Outlook Connector to switch all Hotmail traffic to SSL. Again, there's no need to opt in—all you need to do is download the latest version of the Outlook Connector.
- Finally, we've increased the number of Windows Live websites that support SSL. Now when you enable SSL, we'll ensure that all your PC and smartphone connections to hotmail.com and live.com websites are all carried over SSL.
Over the coming months, we will have more details to share as we continue to invest in SSL and other safety features. As always, thanks for using Hotmail, and we appreciate your comments and feedback.
Dick Craddock
Group Program Manager, Hotmail
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