Outlook now shows most recent login

Outlook 365 for Windows is getting an important security reminder, a message showing the last time someone logged into that account.

Most Recent Login messages are a little security feature.  It shows when and where the last sign-in to that account happened.  A glance at that might be your first hint that someone has hacked into your account.

This notice is coming to Outlook for Windows under File | Info. It shows the last login to that mailbox by any means (web browser, another Outlook ).

Helpful but maybe too late

A ‘Most Recent Login’ message is a nice extra but, these days, the warning might be too late for you to do anything.

In many cases, a hacker will get into an account and the first thing they’ll do is change the password to lock everyone else out.  The real account holder won’t even be able to see the Most Recent Login message.

But the message is useful if the hacker is being stealthy, reading messages and maybe collecting/resetting other passwords via your mailbox.  If you see a suspicious login, change your password immediately, notify your IT department and change other crucial passwords (bank accounts, other mailboxes, online shopping etc.).

The best protection against account intrusions is Two-Factor Authentication.  Yes, regular readers are bored with us talking about this, however not a week goes by without Office Watch hearing from someone who has their accounts hacked.  That attack could have been prevented with ‘2Fac’.

Who get Most Recent Login?

According to Microsoft, this feature is in Outlook 365 for Windows v2106 build 14117.20000 for Insiders but it’s not showing on any of our test machines.

Microsoft doesn’t say which mailbox accounts this applies for, leaving that (as usual) unstated.  We’re betting it only applies to Exchange Online and maybe Outlook.com accounts (i.e. Microsoft hosted).

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