With all the security breaches we're having these days, it
doesn't hurt to be vigilant for any suspicious activity. Your Microsoft
account—linking SkyDrive, Outlook.com, Office webapps, Xbox, and possibly your
PC—comes with a tool that shows you if any unauthorized parties tried to get
into your account.
It's much like Google's and
Dropbox's "last activity" solution: Microsoft keeps a log of
successful and unsuccessful sign-ins, incorrect password attempts, and so
on—along with the IP address, a map, and other details of the attempted device.
Log into your Microsoft account and click the
"Recent activity" link in the left menu to see it.
Here's an example of the scene:
 |
| An Hacker's Attempt |
An excerpt from the above image reveals that someone in Russia tried to get into the writer’s
account but entered the wrong password. The map tells me this is someone in
Khabarovsk, a place I've never been.
I'm not too
concerned with that unsuccessful attempt.
Because it's an unknown device and I
have two-factor
authentication turned on—something everyone
should do wherever possible—the supposed hacker couldn't get in
without my other authenticating device.
What would
be troubling is if there was a successful sign-in from a location that's not mine.
Then you know you've been compromised. You can hit the "This wasn't
me" button on that page to tell Microsoft and recover your account.
Anyway, like
looking at logs of your Wi-Fi router's login attempts, it's nice to remember
every now and then that everything is all right.
Hope to see you taking your account's security more seriously after reading this.
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