Microsoft has done some OneDrive related announcements today. It has increased the OneDrive standalone storage plan from 50 GB to 100 GB without charging anything extra and has also added a new option for Office 365 subscribers to add more storage as they need it.
It has also launched a new OneDrive feature called “Personal Vault” that will keep your most important documents protected with the help of an extra layer of authentication. Here is how Microsoft describes it in its official blog post.
Personal Vault is a protected area in OneDrive that you can only access with a strong authentication method or a second step of identity verification, such as your fingerprint, face, PIN, or a code sent to you via email or SMS.1 Your locked files in Personal Vault have an extra layer of security, keeping them more secured in the event that someone gains access to your account or your device.
Plus, this added security doesn’t mean added inconvenience. All your documents, photos, and videos in Personal Vault are easy to access on Onedrive.com, your PC, or capable devices.2
Other Personal Vault features include,
- Just enter a PIN, or use your fingerprint, face, or a code delivered by email or SMS1 to unlock and access your files—
no need to remember multiple passwords. Additionally, Personal Vault can be unlocked with the Microsoft Authenticator app. Whichever way you choose, unlocking is quick, convenient, and helps secure your data. - You can use the OneDrive for mobile app to scan documents, take pictures, or shoot video directly into your Personal Vault, keeping them off less secure areas of your device—
such as your camera roll. It’s easy to scan important travel, identification, vehicle, home, insurance documents, and more directly into your Personal Vault. And you’ll have access to these documents wherever you go, across your capable devices.2 - Personal Vault uses more than just two-step verification to help keep your files safe and private. On Windows 10 PCs, OneDrive syncs your Personal Vault files to a BitLocker-encrypted area of your local hard drive. And like all files in OneDrive, the contents of your Personal Vault are encrypted at-rest in the Microsoft cloud and in-transit to your device.
- Personal Vault automatically relocks on your PC, device, or online after a short period of inactivity. Once locked, any files you were using will also lock and require reauthentication to access.
Release Date:
Microsoft will first roll out Personal Vault in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada soon and will make it available to everyone by the end of the year.
