Microsoft Hotmail to Bolster Security

Microsoft’s Hotmail e-mail service announced last week that it plans to add several security features in the next few months. Part of a new version of the service, the planned enhancements include the option to encrypt e-mail and to receive temporary account passwords via text message.

Hotmail would be the first major free service to offer users the texted temporary password option. Microsoft decided to offer the service partly after speaking with users in developing countries who often use public computers at Internet cafes and other locations, according to one report. Such computers are often infected with password-stealing malware.

Hotmail would be the second major free e-mail service to provide “always on” Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption to protect traffic between users’ computers and e-mail providers’ servers. The service was introduced in 2008 by Google’s Gmail, which has also rolled out some new security features in recent months.

Gmail introduced a new service that will alert account holders when Google feels their accounts may have been improperly accessed. Google considers information such as the Internet Protocol address of the computer signing onto an account, as well as an account holder’s typical sign-on behavior, said Will Cathcart, a Google product manager, in a recent interview with Security Management.

Earlier this year, Gmail became the first service to make “always on” SSL encryption the default option on new accounts.

♦ Snip of Hotmail Logo