How to lock down your Microsoft account and keep it safe from outside attackers

[ImranQ]

What's your most valuable online account, the one most deserving of protection? If you use a Microsoft account to sign in to a Windows PC, that account and its associated email address should be the one you guard most jealously. That's especially true if you use that Microsoft account for OneDrive storage and Office 365 documents.

In this post, I list seven steps you can take to help you lock that account down so it's safe from online attacks. As always, there's a balancing act between convenience and security, so I've divided the steps into three groups, based on how tightly you want to lock down your Microsoft account. (It's worth noting that this article is about consumer Microsoft accounts used with Home and Personal editions of Office 365, Microsoft 365, and OneDrive. Security settings for business and enterprise Microsoft 365 accounts are managed by domain administrators through Azure Active Directory, using a completely different set of tools.)

In addition, you should turn on two-step verification (Microsoft's term for multi-factor authentication) to protect yourself from

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and other forms of password theft. When that feature is enabled, you have to supply an additional proof of your identity when you sign in for the first time on a new device or when you perform a high-risk activity, such as paying for an online purchase. The additional verification typically consists of a code sent as an SMS text message to a trusted device or in an email message to a registered alternate account.

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