TechnoTalk: Time to Tech

[Uncle]

so microsoft forces you to set up a backup email address for your email account with them, and if a bad actor/bot/hacker somehow figures out the email account connected with the microsoft one, they can constantly request single use login codes that get emailed to your other address

they can't get in, but it's still alarming as it's direct evidence of someone metaphorically banging on the door

the internet is full of people asking for ways to get the spam to stop



https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/constant-receipt-of-your-single-use-code/970dc4fd-e68d-4f8e-9fc0-00d65702d86b

I receive a "Your single use code" email very regularly from the Microsoft account team, despite not requesting this myself.

My concern is that, since this is just a 7 digit number, on scale (i.e. after many attempts across many email addresses) someone could obtain unauthorised access to an account by simply requesting a large number of single use codes every day across many accounts.

If nothing else, it is annoying from a customer experience perspective to constantly get irrelevant emails that I can't unsubscribe from.

Any insight from Microsoft into this system and why it is only a 7digit number? Any way to stop getting these emails?

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/received-multiple-single-use-code-request-email/fd5d4375-080b-4b5b-bb46-a5d6d6969c8f

I have been getting dozens of single code requests for the past month. I spoke to a Microsoft advisor through their live chat system. He said I had taken all the right steps (Changed Password and added Two Step Verification on the account AND enabling Microsoft Authenicator on my phone where I have to physically enter details to access my email account before any details are changed)

He said I can safely ignore the emails as they won't get in. Just annoying.

great solution MS