Security News > 2023 > May > Modern Auth comes to on-prem Exchange Server gear
Right now that means transitioning purely on-premises environments from Basic Authentication to Auth 2.0, also known as Modern Authentication, or Modern Auth.
While this move is aimed at Exchange Server 2019, "Customers who have backend servers running Exchange Server 2016 CU23 are also supported for Modern auth," Microsoft's Exchange Team wrote this month.
Microsoft for several years has been bringing Modern Auth to various customer-facing applications in its portfolio, including Exchange Online, Outlook Desktop, and Outlook Mobile App.
Redmond a few years ago laid out plans to bring Modern Auth to cloud-only and hybrid Exchange Server environments, but in 2019 said it wouldn't support it for on-premises-only environments.
The shift to Modern Auth in Exchange Server 2019 will come in stages.
Microsoft is supporting Auth 2.0 for Outlook on Windows in Exchange Server 2019 now via Active Directory Federations Service, a form of Modern Auth that acts as an on-premises security token service.