Starting February 15, 2021, G Suite accounts will only allow access to apps using OAuth. Password-based access will no longer be supported.

Problem reported by John Pemberton 6 years ago

Hi, I have just had this email from Google-

Dear Administrator,

We’re constantly working to improve the security of your organization’s Google accounts. As part of this effort, and in consideration of the current threat landscape, we’ll be turning off access to less secure apps (LSA) — non-Google apps that can access your Google account with only a username and password, without requiring any additional verification steps. Access through only a username and password makes your account more vulnerable to hijacking attempts. Moving forward, only apps that support a more modern and secure access method called OAuth will be able to access your G Suite account.

Access to LSAs will be turned off in two stages:

June 15, 2020 - Users who try to connect to an LSA for the first time will no longer be able to do so. This includes third-party apps that allow password-only access to Google calendars, contacts, and email via protocols such as CalDAV, CardDAV and IMAP. Users who have connected to LSAs prior to this date will be able to continue using them until usage of all LSAs is turned off. February 15, 2021 - Access to LSAs will be turned off for all G Suite accounts. What do I need to do? To continue using a specific app with your G Suite accounts, users in your organization must switch to a more secure type of access called OAuth. This connection method allows apps to access accounts with a digital key instead of requiring a user to reveal their username and password. We recommend that you share the user instructions (included below) with individuals in your organization to help them make the necessary changes. Alternatively, if your organization is using custom tools, you can ask the developer of the tool to update it to use OAuth. Developer instructions are also included below.

MDM configuration If your organization uses a mobile device management (MDM) provider to configure CalDAV, CardDAV, and Exchange ActiveSync (Google Sync) profiles, these services will be phased out according to the timeline below:

June 15, 2020 - MDM push of IMAP, CalDAV, CardDAV, and Exchange ActiveSync (Google Sync) will no longer work for new users. February 15, 2021 - MDM push of IMAP, CalDAV, CardDAV, and Exchange ActiveSync (Google Sync) will no longer work for existing users. Admins will need to push a Google Account using their MDM provider, which will re-add their Google accounts to iOS devices using OAuth. Other less secure apps For any other LSA, ask the developer of the app you are using to start supporting OAuth. If you use other apps on iOS or MacOS that access your G Suite account information through only a password, most access issues can be resolved by removing then re-adding your account. When you add it back, make sure to select Google as the account type to automatically use OAuth. Scanners and other devices No change is required for scanners or other devices using simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) or LSAs to send emails. If you replace your device, look for one that sends email using OAuth.

User instructions If you are using an app that accesses your Google account with only a username and password, take one of the following actions to switch to a more secure method and continue to access your email, calendar, or contacts. If you do not take one of the following actions, when LSA access is discontinued after February 15, 2021, you will begin receiving an error message that your username-password combination is incorrect.

Email If you are using stand-alone Outlook 2016 or earlier, move to Office 365 (a web-based version of Outlook) or Outlook 2019, both of which support OAuth access. Alternatively you can use G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook. If you are using Thunderbird or another email client, re-add your Google Account and configure it to use IMAP with OAuth. If you are using the mail app on iOS or MacOS, or Outlook for Mac, and use only a password to login, you’ll need to remove and re-add your account. When you add it back, select “sign in with Google” to automatically use OAuth. Mac OS iOS mail app view Mac OS
mail app view iOS Calendar If you use CalDAV to give an app or device access to your calendar, switch to a method that supports OAuth. We recommend the Google Calendar app [Web/iOS/Android] as the most secure app to use with your G Suite account. If your G Suite account is linked to the calendar app in iOS or MacOS and uses only a password to login, you’ll need to remove and re-add your account to your device. When you add it back, select “sign in with Google” to automatically use OAuth. Read more Contacts If your G Suite account is syncing contacts to iOS or MacOS via CardDAV and uses only a password to login, you’ll need to remove your account. When you add it back, select “sign in with Google” to automatically use OAuth. Read More If your G Suite account is syncing contacts to any other platform or app via CardDAV and uses only a password to login, switch to a method that supports OAuth. Note: If the app you are using does not support OAuth, you will need to switch to an app that offers OAuth, or ask your admin to contact the supplier of your app and request that they add OAuth as a way of connecting your Google account.

Developer instructions To maintain compatibility with G Suite accounts, update your app to use OAuth 2.0 as a connection method. To get started, follow our developer guide on using OAuth 2.0 to access Google APIs. You can also refer to our guide on OAuth 2.0 for mobile & desktop apps.

How can I get help? If you have additional questions or need assistance, please contact G Suite support. When you call or submit your support case, reference issue number 145694552.

Thanks for choosing G Suite.

—The G Suite Team

You will need to enable OAuth by the deadline for us to be able to continue to use your services.

Thanks John

8 Replies

Hi John,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention - This has been raised with our technical team and we will work towards a resolution in time for the switch off in June. I will keep you updated with all progress.

unfortunately, despite what the dates in the email say google are already blocking access to less secure apps so it is already rejecting my STMP sign in from within clearbooks even though I have had it set up for years so if you expiate this that would be great thanks

Hi Ian,

I will pass this onto our techinical team. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

All the best,

Mohamed.

Hi Ian,

Our devs have investigated this and do not believe this is the OAuth authentication issue. There could be a variety of issues though, here are some solutions provided by our dev team:

  • You might need to (re-)enable less secure app access on your Google account
  • Your organisation might have disabled less secure app access on Google, organisation-wide

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255?hl=en

  • It might be worth re-entering your SMTP settings in Clear Books too just to be sure.

If none of that works, and you have your own domain, I'd recommend following the SPF guide and disabling SMTP completely for now:

https://support.clearbooks.co.uk/support/solutions/articles/33000203083-ensuring-your-clear-books-emails-are-not-rejected-by-recipients

Or alternatively, switch to our no-reply@user-mail.clearbooks.co.uk address on the Home>Account menu:

https://support.clearbooks.co.uk/support/solutions/articles/33000224975-clear-books-emails

Sorry Ian,

A solution is still in our dev backlog with no definitive time of release as yet.

As for the error you are experiencing - it may be because the 'less secure app access' has not been turned on in your account.

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255?hl=en

I think you are right about the SPF - We can set up DKIM signing for you, please raise a ticket with our support team:

https://secure.clearbooks.co.uk/accounting/home/dashboard/?contact-support=1

Hi, When will this be implemented? If you fail to have a date to implement this by early 2021 I will need to start considering migrating to a modern platform that is up to date. I am not a fan of a platform that is fire fighting and getting things like this implemented at the 11th hour. regards John

Reply to this problem

Attach images by dragging and dropping or upload
 

Your comments will be public and can be answered by anyone in the Clear Books community.

Find out what we do and who we are