
But even when the app password is strong and securely stored, the use of app passwords undermines the security goal of requiring MFA in the first place.Īnother solution is to use low-privilege accounts for automated processes. App passwords, which are effectively an MFA-bypass, can solve the issue in some cases. The login process for MFA-enabled accounts is also often not suitable for automated processes, even when they’re using PowerShell connections that do support MFA, because they can’t interact with the MFA prompt and enter the one-time code that is required for login.


Exchange Online Remote PowerShell module.Azure AD/MSOnline module (latest versions).Right now the following PowerShell connections do support MFA: The first is that not all of the PowerShell connections for managing Office 365 support MFA yet. Planning to Enable MFA for Office 365 Adminsīefore you turn on MFA for your Office 365 administrator accounts, there’s a few points that you need to be aware of. Completing the MFA Registration for an Account.Preparing an Office 365 Tenant for Multi-Factor Authentication.Planning to Enable MFA for Office 365 Admins.For environments with AD FS deployed, Azure subscriptions, or Azure AD Premium plans, there’s some additional MFA capabilities that organizations can consider as well. In this example I’ll be using MFA for Office 365 to enable multi-factor authentication. Aside from the security benefits, enabling MFA is also one of the recommendations in the Office 365 Secure Score report, and you’ll get a nice 50 point bump to show your boss.

That one-time code is provided via phone call, text message, or is generated by an app, and protects the account from unauthorized use if the username and password are exposed. Multi-factor authentication requires a person to know the account’s username, password, and also enter a unique, one-time code in order to log on. But you can protect them further by enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA), which is also sometimes referred to as two-step or two-factor authentication (2FA). Protecting the accounts with a strong password that is safely stored in a database such as 1Password or LastPass is one step towards securing them. This Global Admin account, and any other admin accounts you create later on, are highly privileged, powerful accounts that need to be protected from compromise. When you sign up a new Office 365 tenant a Global Admin account is created for you.
