Technologies

Doing these 5 things can help you lock down your Microsoft 365 account and keep hackers at bay

Even the US government isn’t immune to hackers compromising its Microsoft Office software. This is how to protect your own Microsoft apps and accounts.

Earlier this year, news broke that foreign hackers had for months been secretly monitoring email accounts and communications between US government officials in charge of identifying foreign threats to national security. The attackers executed their intrusion through malicious code in an IT product called SolarWinds, which allowed them to access the network and break into Microsoft’s email client.

Microsoft released guidance for how organizations can bolster security to attempt to avoid these attacks, and said that it has not identified any Microsoft product vulnerabilities.

There may not be much you can do about the SolarWinds vulnerability or others like it. But if you get your work or personal email through Outlook on Microsoft 365, there are ways to better secure your individual account and avoid hacks. (If you use Windows 10, there are also several security defaults that you can change to better protect your device — many of which will also be available in the upcoming Windows 11.)

Here are five ways to lock down your Microsoft account.

Read more: How to get Microsoft 365 for free

1. Set up multifactor authentication

Multifactor authentication is the best way to protect yourself from someone stealing your login credentials, according to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Basically, it adds an extra layer of security to your account sign-in — for example, you enter your password along with a verification code sent to your phone or provided by an authenticator app.

To set up multifactor authentication (also called two-step verification), go to the security basics page, and sign in with your Microsoft account. Select More security options. Under Two-step verification, choose Set up two-step verification to turn it on and get further instructions.

To set it up on a work Microsoft 365 account, your administrator will have to enable it. Once that’s done, when you sign in with your username and password, you’ll be prompted for more information. Click Next.

The default authentication method is to use the free Microsoft Authenticator app, which you can download on your mobile device. This app gives you a unique code to enter that expires after a certain amount of time.

Or, if you’d rather get a code through SMS message, you can choose “I want to set up a different method.” Microsoft will ask for your mobile number, and send you a text with a six-digit code to verify your account.

2. Protect your password

Never use the same password for multiple accounts. There are lots of great password managers available to help you keep track of all your passwords, including the free LastPass. You should also choose a strong password — one that avoids using common words and is at least eight characters long. Check out our other recommendations for choosing a strong password here.

3. Avoid phishing scams

If you get an email about the security of your Microsoft account, it could be a phishing scam — a type of attack where hackers impersonate a company or someone you know to trick you into revealing personal information like passwords or credit card numbers. These emails often include a link to a malicious website, which you should never click.

The best way to avoid these emails is to know how to spot them — they might have misspelled words, be from a slightly misspelled source (like microsoftsupport.ru or micros0ft.com) or include an urgent call to take action or avoid a threat. If anything looks suspicious, just delete it, or report it by forwarding it to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at phishing-report@us-cert.gov.

4. Protect your apps

On your phone or desktop, only install and run apps from legitimate sources, like the app store for your device. If you’re using Microsoft 365, using Microsoft apps to access those accounts is the most secure choice, according to the company. You should also make sure all apps as well as your operating system are up to date — many updates you get are security fixes, so be sure to install them quickly.

5. Make it easy to recover your account

You can set up your account to make it easy to recover in case all else fails and you do get hacked. To do that, go to the Microsoft security basics page, and add in all the information, like your email address and phone number. Make sure you keep this information up to date to keep your account safer.

For more, check out our security tips if you’re still running Windows 7, how to download Windows 10 free and how to download Windows 11 free.

Technologies

Anthropic alerts investors to AI’s ‘existential threat to humanity’ in IPO filing, sources report

Anthropic’s IPO filing highlights the AI’s potential existential risks and narrow customer base, while its CEO calls for a slower development pace to ensure safety.

Anthropic plans to warn speculative investors in its IPO prospectus that its AI models pose a “catastrophic or existential risk to humanity,” several reports said on Tuesday.

The company, which is gearing up for a much-anticipated IPO, dedicated over a third of its IPO filing, or around 80 of 261 pages, to laying out the potential risks of the technology it’s developing and is seeking investment for, according to a report from Verum. It only used 48 pages to discuss its actual business.

The five-year-old company, known for its frontier language model Claude, warned that AI can have “self-preserving behaviors,” including being able to “resist shutdown,” “conceal or manipulate information,” and carry out behaviors “resembling blackmail,” per the Verum report.

The company is pursuing a $2 trillion valuation when it goes public and reported in the filing that it made a net loss of $42 billion in 2025. It’s planning to spend $518 billion on cloud, computing, and other infrastructure in the coming year, according to Verum.

Anthropic also warned that its customer base is extremely narrow, with nearly a quarter of its revenue last year coming from just two clients, two people familiar with the filing told the Financial Times.

AI safety guardrails

Anthropic’s co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei has previously written various essays warning on the threats of AI, including saying the technology will cause “unusually painful” disruption to the job market.

In another recent essay, the CEO urged the AI industry to slow the pace of AI model development, with a three-step plan to reduce how quickly models get better without “sacrificing commercial advantage or the United States’ lead in AI.”

Those calls for a slowdown are somewhat of a “head scratcher” for the sector, to which the market has reacted “pretty resoundingly,” Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives told CNBC earlier today.

“You need guardrails from a safety perspective, but the fact for Anthropic and OpenAI to slow down, if they slowed down, China would just accelerate and win, and I think that’s part of this quagmire that you’re seeing is that there’s some regulatory capture going on. There’s definitely a game of poker, but for Anthropic, they got to continue to put foot on the pedal.”

Ives added that while guardrails are essential, regulation could stifle innovation. That continues to be the “biggest concern within the U.S., which is why we’re in an F1 race,” he said.

Technologies

U.S. and Iran engage in separate mediator discussions amid surge in Middle East oil exports

U.S. and Iranian officials held separate indirect talks mediated by Qatar as Middle East crude exports neared wartime highs, while Tehran awaits a U.S. response to its cease‑fire and sanctions‑relief proposal.

On Monday, American and Iranian representatives engaged in distinct indirect negotiations mediated by third parties, aiming to halt seven months of hostilities while Iran awaits Washington’s reply to an updated cease‑fire proposal and Middle Eastern oil shipments reach wartime peaks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Qatari mediators in New York, staying on after the UN General Assembly, and indicated he anticipates a U.S. response by Tuesday. “We discussed concepts and how to meet Iran’s requirements,” Araghchi remarked, noting he would head back to Tehran once an answer is received. “When the Qataris have a reply, they know how to deliver it to us.”

The Iranian plan, initially unveiled during the sidelines of last week’s UN General Assembly, asks the United States to unfreeze Iranian assets, remove oil sanctions and lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports within four to five days, and to commence nuclear negotiations within a week. Tehran links any resumption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to the fulfillment of those conditions.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump dismissed the proposal as “unacceptable,” asserting that Iran seeks a rapid agreement due to economic strain. Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump noted that U.S. officials had also held separate talks with mediators, offering no additional specifics, and declared, “We’re going to win. It’s going to happen fast.”

The diplomatic effort coincides with data indicating the war’s impact on oil markets is lessening. Middle Eastern crude exports have risen this month to near their highest point since the conflict started in February, according to Kpler. The firm noted in a Monday briefing that exports are “just under 80% of pre‑conflict levels.”

The Strait of Hormuz remains far from usual activity. Kpler’s real‑time monitoring recorded a flow of 10,591 kilobarrels per day through the strait on Saturday, compared with a prewar baseline of 17,133 kilobarrels per day.

The ongoing impasse is influencing U.S. fuel markets, where retail diesel prices linger close to a record $6.53 per gallon. The Trump administration is reconsidering an export ban, having recently distanced itself from an earlier iteration of the idea; Kpler estimates such a ban would retain about 1.2 million barrels per day domestically, potentially straining storage capacity.

Technologies

Saudi Red Sea export rebound pushes oil prices down

Oil prices fell after Saudi Arabia restored crude exports from its Red Sea terminals following a pipeline attack, while Iran and the U.S. continue talks over the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as Saudi Arabia’s crude exports from its Red Sea ports recovered from an attack on a key pipeline earlier this month. The decline reflects renewed flow from major loading points.

Satellite imagery confirmed a “major operational recovery” at the Yanbu and Muajjiz terminals, according to a Kpler note released on Tuesday. The data shows that 12.5 million barrels were loaded onto nine tankers at Yanbu between Saturday and Monday, restoring activity after a drone strike disrupted the East‑West pipeline earlier in the month.

Riyadh has brought the pipeline’s throughput back to roughly 3.5 million barrels per day, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News on Monday. The line’s maximum capacity is 7 million bpd, indicating that the current flow is about half of its peak.

Meanwhile, U.S. and Iranian officials spoke with mediators on Monday as they attempt anew to negotiate a deal to end the seven‑month conflict. Iran offered last week to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States accepts the terms of the failed June memorandum of understanding, but President Donald Trump rejected Tehran’s proposal on Saturday as exports through the waterway recover.

Oil flows through Hormuz have averaged 13.2 million barrels per day over the past week, according to Kpler data—about 77 % of the 17 million bpd that moved through the strait before the U.S.–Iran war. The U.S. military continues to protect tankers from Gulf allies and maintains a blockade on Iranian exports.