Microsoft is adding 2FA to HealthVault, ending integration of with MSN Health & Fitness

Microsoft is adding support for 2-factor authentication for the HealthVault account services, as per WindowsUnited. The firm previously announced to developers that it would be doing so on MSDN in order to give them a heads-up.

We wanted to give you a head’s[sic] up that as part of our commitment to high standards of security, we will be turning on two-step verification on HealthVault this October. This means that when users sign into a HealthVault-connected app, they will be asked to verify their identity via a contact method. We will be notifying all HealthVault users of our plans later this month.

Microsoft has now sent out emails to some of Health Vault’s users to alert them of the upcoming change. HealthVault will also be ending its integration with MSN Health and Fitness as part of this. in November the 30th. This is because the MSN Health and Fitness app does not support 2FA, and as such would not be as secure as Microsoft like. That shouldn’t be too big an issue, Microsoft already ended support for those apps, so users were most likely living on borrowed time anyway.

Regardless, two-factor authentication is an important security measure in 2017, and with data as sensitive as healthcare, it is only sensible that Microsoft enables such what is now a common-sense measure.