Microsoft has disabled a feature that allows Hotmail users to embed an image into emails due to security concerns, the company has confirmed.
The software giant announced the decision to pull a feature from its web-based email service last week amid security concerns created due to an incompatibility with Internet Explorer, although experts believed that the feature was actually disabled back in late June.
The feature allowed users to insert an image file within the actual body of the email message, as opposed to attaching the image separately. Users will still however be able to attach images and other files as attachments whilst Microsoft works on a fix, likely to be included in the next Internet Explorer patch.
Hotmail, which has around 270million users worldwide, claimed that the feature is likely to be reinstated in September.
Some of you may have noticed that lately, you can no longer add photos directly into the body of a Windows Live Hotmail message the way you used to do,” a Hotmail statement read. “The Windows Live team is constantly reviewing Hotmail to ensure quality service to our customers.
“During a recent review, we identified an incompatibility with Internet Explorer that caused a security flaw with photo uploads, and we made the decision to temporarily remove the feature.
“The Hotmail team takes security very seriously and we expect to bring back the photo upload feature by the end of September. In the meantime, you can still add pictures as attachments to your Hotmail messages, by clicking Attach, and then selecting the picture you want to include.”
