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Multi / Two-Factor Authentication (MFA/2FA) for Outlook Web Access (OWA on Exchange) logins

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Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) logins Multi Factor Authentication (MFA/2FA) and Exchange admin center (EAC) login is a process of authentication in which you have to provide two different factors to gain access to your critical resources in OWA, thereby enabling OWA MFA. The first factor is the one that you know, such as username and password (OWA user credentials). The Second factor is a dynamic, unique set of credentials on mfa device such as OTP over SMS, Email, Hardware tokens, security key, etc. This additional layer or the security key prevents any unauthorised person from accessing your resources and emails in OWA, even if your username and passwords are compromised.

miniorange provides 15+ authentication methods for Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) or Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)and solutions for various use cases like Outlook Web Access (OWA) MFA and Exchange admin center (EAC) logins. It allows iam users and organizations to set up certain authentication and settings which includes password restrictions, restricting sign-in methods, as well as other security settings. miniorange also makes way for authentication apps that support Time-Based One-Time Password (TOTP) Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Authy 2-Factor authentication app and our own miniorange Authenticator app.

OWA logins with MFA solution by miniOrange provides an option to integrate with multiple third-party Identity Providers which supports SAML, OAuth, etc. standard protocols. IDP here means (Okta, Auth0, Ping, Onelogin, etc) or Active Directory (AD) where your existing users are managed. Once your Microsoft account login is enabled with your IDP / Directory successfully, your employees or OWA end users will be able to login into their OWA account and other integrated applications with the use of existing username password. IAM users will use the existing Microsoft account credentials as given below is the setup guide to configure OWA MFA

Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) offers integrated time and information management solutions. E-mail, calendar management, task management, contact management, note-taking, journaling, and online surfing are just a few of the capabilities of Outlook that help with communication and organizing. Outlook helps you to search and categorize your mail, organize your work, and better share your information with others all from one handy spot. The traditional username & password-based authentication process is not secure enough in today's world. Unauthorized access to a user's OWA interface risks the exposure of sensitive business information & confidential email correspondence between users. But you can always avoid such breaches by enabling OWA login MFA and Exchange admin center (EAC) login to increase the security level in your oraganization.

Follow the Step-by-Step Guide given below to enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for outlook-web-access

1. Configure Exchange Gateway in miniOrange IdP

• Login into miniOrange dashboard from the Admin Console.
• From the left side menu, click on Apps → Manage Apps.



• Click on Add Applicaton button.



• In choose application type, click on create app button in SAML/WS-FED application type.



• In the next step, search for your application from the list, if your application is not found. Search for "custom" and you can set up your app via Custom SAML App.



• Configure Basic Settings for App:
1. Custom Application Name: App name you like to provide. E.g. Custom SAML App.
2. SP Entity ID or Issuer: Enter SP Entity ID / Issuer that would uniquely identify the Exchange Gateway.
   Note that the same value would need to be configured in the Exchange Gateway in the next steps.
   https://myhost/exchangegateway/
3. ACS URL: Enter ACS (Assertion Consumer Service) URL in the following format:
   https://myhost/exchangegateway/login.php, where https://myhost is the hostname of the server hosting the Exchange Gateway.



• Configure Attribute Mapping:
1. Select the attribute name with which you want to log in your application in Name ID field from the dropdown.
   eg. Username, Email, etc.
2. Enter Name ID format such as E-mail address, nameid, etc in Name ID Format.
3. Attributes can be mapped using the Add Attribute tab.
4. Add attributes such as Email, Full name, etc. with its corresponding value as per shown in image.
5. Multiple attributes can be added using icons.



• Create an appropriate policy for the SAML Application.
1. Group Name : Select an appropriate Group Name from the dropdown.
2. Policy Name: Policy name you like to provide.
3. Login Method: Select Appropriate method from the dropdown.



• Click on Save.
• To upload respective app logo for a Custom SAML App, click on Upload Logo tab.



• Click on Save.

2. Configure miniOrange Exchange Gateway

Pre-requisites:

• PHP >=5.4: Official PHP installation guide
• PHP LDAP Extension: Quick miniOrange guide to enable php-ldap extension
• OpenSSL libraries
• PHP DOM extension
• Setup miniOrange Exchange Gateway
• Download Exchange Gateway. It can be deployed on any web server(Apache/IIS) on any OS.
• Extract the zip file in the web applications directory (/var/www/html for Linux or c:\inetpub\wwwroot IIS on WIndows servers)

Configure AD/LDAP Connection for Exchange Gateway (LdapUtils.php) :

• Configure server_name, ldap_bind_dn, ldap_bind_password, search_filter, search_base attributes.






Configure miniOrange as IdP for the Exchange Gateway (SamlConstants.php) :

• From the SAML app created in the 1st step, go to metadata details.



• Choose ‘Information required to authenticate VIA External IDPS’.
• Update SAML Login URL, SAML Logout URL, X.509 Certificate, IdP Entity ID or Issuer in SamlConstants.php file from the above metadata details.




Configure Exchange/OWA as application on Exchange Gateway (WsFedConstants.php)

• Configure OWA/ECP base URL here.

• Outlook URL: https://Exchange Base URL/owa
  E.g.:https://mail.miniorange.com/owa

• Exchange Control Panel URL: https://Exchange Base URL/ecp
  E.g.:https://mail.miniorange.com/ecp

3. Configure Exchange / OWA for Sign-On using miniOrange and Exchange Gateway

• Add Signing certificate (obtained in above step) to the Trusted People store on the Client Access Server using the steps below:
• Open WsFedConstants.php copy the public key certificate into a new file and name it exchange-gateway.crt
• Got to Management Console. Open run dialog (Win + R) and type mmc and press enter.
• In Management Console, go to File > Add or Remove Snap-ins (Ctrl + M).
• Search for Certificates on the left side and press Add.
• In the Certificate Snap In window, select Computer account and press Next. Then select Local Computer and press Finish.
• You will see an entry for Certificates (Local Computer) in the right pane. Click OK to close the Add or Remove Snap-ins window.
• You will see a branch named Certificates created under Console Root. Expand the Certificates branch and select Trusted People.
• Right click on Trusted People > Find > Import and click on Next.
• Choose the location of the exchange-gateway.crt file you created above and click on Next, again Next and Finish.
• You have successfully added a Signing Certificate to Trusted People. Now close Management Console and choose No on the Save data prompt.

• Execute the commands on the Client Access Server using the Exchange Management Shell.
  
  $uris=@("https://##Base URL##/owa/","https:///##Base URL##/ecp/","https:///##Base URL##/owa","##Base URL##/ecp")
• In the above command, ##Base URL## is the exchange/OWA host. The command has both URLs: One ending in / and the other one which does not contain a trailing slash.
  
  Set-OrganizationConfig -AdfsIssuer "https://##Exchange Gateway Host##/exchangegateway/login.php" -AdfsAudienceUris $uris -AdfsSignCertificateThumbprint ##Cert Thumbprint##
  
  
• In the above command, ##Exchange Gateway URL## is the host name of the Exchange Gateway. The Cert Thumbprint is the SHA-1 thumbprint of the certificate you created above (exchange-gateway.crt) in the Exchange Gateway (in the includes directory).
  
  Get-EcpVirtualDirectory | Set-EcpVirtualDirectory -AdfsAuthentication $true -BasicAuthentication $false -DigestAuthentication $false -FormsAuthentication $false -WindowsAuthentication $false
  
  Get-OwaVirtualDirectory | Set-OwaVirtualDirectory -AdfsAuthentication $true -BasicAuthentication $false -DigestAuthentication $false -FormsAuthentication $false -WindowsAuthentication $false -OAuthAuthentication $false
  
  # Restart w3svc and was
  net stop was /y
  net start w3svc
  

4. Configure 2FA for Outlook Web Access (OWA)

4.1: Enable 2FA for Users of Outlook Web Access (OWA) app

• To enable 2FA for Users of Outlook Web Access (OWA) application. Go to Policies >> App Authentication Policy
• Click on Edit against the application you have configured.



• Enable the Enable 2-Factor Authentication (MFA) option.



• Click on Save.

4.2: Configure 2FA for your Endusers

• To enable 2FA/MFA for endusers, go to 2-Factor Authentication >> 2FA Options For EndUsers.
• Select default Two-Factor authentication method for end users. Also, you can select particular 2FA methods, which you want to show on the end users dashboard.
• Once Done with the settings, click on Save to configure your 2FA settings.

4.3: Enduser 2FA Setup

• Login to End-User Dashboard using end user login URL.
• For Cloud Version: The login URL (branding url) which you have set.
• For On-Premise version: The login URL will be the same as of Admin Login URL.
• Select Setup 2FA from left panel. Then select any of the 2FA method available.
• For now, we have selected the SMS >> OTP OVER SMS as our 2FA method. You can explore the guide to setup other 2FA methods here.
• Enable the OTP over SMS if you have your phone number added under your profile section else click on Edit button.



• Enter you Phone Number along with the necessary country code and click on the SAVE button.

5. Test Outlook Web Access (OWA) 2FA

• Go to your Outlook Web Access (OWA) Domain. It will redirect you to miniOrange Single Sign-On Service console.



• Enter your miniOrange login credentials and click on Login.
• Since we have Two-factor authentication(2FA) enabled, you will be prompted to register for it. It's a one time process.
• Configure your basic details.



• Configure any authentication method of your choice.



• After successful registration, you will be logged in to your Outlook Web Access (OWA) account.
• Now we have Two-factor authentication enabled.
• To verify your Two-factor authentication(2FA) configuration, go to your Outlook Web Access (OWA) Domain. You will be redirected to miniOrange login console.



• Enter your login credentials, and click on login. It will prompt to verify yourself against the configured 2fa method.
  e.g. If you have configured OTP over SMS, after login into Outlook Web Access (OWA) it will prompt for OTP.



• Enter the OTP received in your phone, after successful 2fa verification, you will be redirected to the Outlook Web Access (OWA) dashboard.


Not able to configure or test MFA?


Contact us or email us at idpsupport@xecurify.com and we'll help you setting it up in no time.

6. Adaptive Authentication with Outlook Web Access (OWA)

A. Restricting access to Outlook Web Access (OWA) with IP Blocking

You can use adaptive authentication with Outlook Web Access (OWA) Single Sign-On (SSO) to improve the security and functionality of Single Sign-On. You can allow a IP Address in certain range for SSO or you can deny it based your requirements and you can also challenge the user to verify his authenticity. Adaptive authentication manages the user authentication bases on different factors such as Device ID, Location, Time of Access, IP Address and many more.

You can configure Adaptive Authentication with IP Blocking in following way:

• Login to Self Service Console >> Adaptive Authentication.
• Add a Policy Name for your Adaptive Authentication Policy.



• Select your Action for behaviour Change and Challenge Type for user from the Action for behaviour Change Section.





Action for behaviour Change Options :




Attribute	Description
Allow	Allow user to authenticate and use services if Adaptive authentication condition is true.
Challenge	Challenge users with one of the three methods mentioned below for verifying user authenticity.
Deny	Deny user authentications and access to services if Adaptive authentication condition is true.




Challenge Type Options :




Attribute	Description
User second Factor	The User needs to authenticate using the second factor he has opted or assigned for such as OTP over SMS PUSH Notification OTP over Email And 12 more methods.
KBA (Knowledge-based authentication)	The System will ask user for 2 of 3 questions he has configured in his Self Service Console. Only after right answer to both questions user is allowed to proceed further.
OTP over Alternate Email	User will receive a OTP on the alternate email he has configured threw Self Service Console. Once user provides the correct OTP he is allowed to proceed further.



• Now Enable Enable IP Restriction option from the IP RESTRICTION CONFIGURATION section to configure custom IP range.



• Select the Action you want to perform if the IP address is out of the range. i.e. Allow, Challenge & Deny.
• Specify the IP Address range for which you want above setting to reflect. You can add more than one IP Address ranges by clicking on following button +.
• Scroll to the end and click on save.

B. Adaptive Authentication with Limiting number of devices.

Using Adaptive Authentication you can also restrict the number of devices the end user can access the Services on. You can allow end users to access services on a fixed no. of devices. The end users will be able to access services provided by us on this fixed no. of devices.

You can configure Adaptive Authentication with Device Restriction in following way


• Login to Self Service Console >> Adaptive Authentication.
• Add a Policy Name for your Adaptive Authentication Policy.
• Select your Action for behaviour Change and Challenge Type for user from the Action for behaviour Change Section.




• Scroll down to Device Configuration section and enable Allow User to Register Device option to allow users to register their devices.
• Enter the Number of Devices which are allowed to register in field next to Number of Device Registrations Allowed
• Choose Action if number of devices exceeded (This will override your setting for Action for Behaviour Change.)
1. Challenge: The user needs to verify himself using any of the three methods mentioned in table in step 6.1
2. Deny : Deny users access to the system
• Enable option Send email alerts to Users if number of Device registrations exceeded allowed count if you want to alert the user about no of devices exceeding the limit. Save the configuration.

C. Add Adaptive Authentication policy to Outlook Web Access (OWA).

• Login to Self Service Console >> Policies.
• Click on Edit option for predefined app policy.



• Set your application name in the Application and select password as Login Method.
• Enable Adaptive Authentication on Policy page and select the required restriction method as an option.
• From Select Login Policy dropdown select the policy we created in last step and click on save.

D.Notification and Alert Message.

This section handles the notifications and alerts related to Adaptive Authentication.It provides the following options :

• Get email alerts if users login from unknown devices or locations : Admin need to enable this option to enable receiving alerts for different alert options.
  
  
  

Option	Description
Challenge Completed and Device Registered	Enabling this option allows you to send an email alert when an end-user completes a challenge and registers a device.
Challenge Completed but Device Not Registered	Enabling this option allows you to send an email alert when an end-user completes a challenge but do not registers the device.
Challenge Failed	Enabling this option allows you to send an email alert when an end-user fails to complete the challenge.






• Next subsection is Send email alerts which allows us to enable or disable alerts for admin and end-users. To enable alerts for admins, you can enable the “Administrators” switch button.




• In case you want multiple admins accounts to receive alerts then you can enable the option for admin and then enter the admin emails separated by a ‘,’ in the input field next to Administrators email to receive alerts label. To enable alerts for the end-users, you can enable the “End Users” switch button.
• In case you want to customize the deny message that end user receive in case his authentication denied due to adaptive policy, you can do this by entering the message inside “Deny message for Adaptive Authentication” textbox.


How to add a trusted Device

1. When End-user log in to the self service console after the policy for device restriction is on, he is provided the option to add the current device as a trusted device.

External References

• Know more on Microsoft SSO login & 2FA/MFA
  
• Outlook Web Access (OWA) Single Sign-On SSO
• Microsoft Outlook Single Sign-On SSO
• Single Sign On (SSO)
• Setup SSO in Outlook Web Access (OWA) logins
• How miniOrange provides MFA for all VPN clients?