Since yesterday, all of Hotmail users have the possibility to improve the security in all of their e-mail accounts. Microsoft recently announced in its Inside Windows Live blog that the people using its free mail services are now provided with the option to activate full data encryption during the entire session.

What does this mean? As I stated in a previous post, Internet is plagued with people with malicious intentions who is more than willing to put their hands on your private information. Many popular services only ensure the login process, leaving the rest of the session’s transfers unprotected. This flaw is exploited by hackers to access your account and steal your data, hence the importance of fully encrypted sessions.

According to Dick Craddock, Group Program Manager for Windows Live Hotmail, this “update joins a series of other recent security updates, with which Hotmail offers advanced security safeguards to help protect your email account from hijackers and fraud.”

That’s why, and since yesterday, Docs, Photos, SkyDrive and Devices pages will also have the full encryption automatically activated. This protection is made possible by the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) which ensures the identification of a web server in all of the communications.

Are you interested in enabling the new option? First of all, you should know that, with this configuration, some transfers won’t be possible in a number of services, a list that includes Windows Live Mail, Outlook Hotmail Connector and the Windows Live app for Symbian and the Mobile version of Windows. So, if you want to continue using these services, you should consider enabling HTTPS security temporarily. To do this, simply enter https://hotmail.com.

But, if you want HTTPS protection to be always active, visit https://account.live.com/ManageSSL, access your account and select the correct option. Is a very simple procedure that will only take a minute of your time and it will provide you with great benefits (although you won’t see them, trust me, they’ll be there).  So, what are you waiting, Hotmail users, to turn this excellent feature on?

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Devices, Docs, Online security, Outlook Hotmail Connector, Photos, SkyDrive, software free, software security, the Windows Live app, Windows Live Mail