Microsoft announced two new features to protect Hotmail users from email account hijackers as well as from malicious email and spam. This is great for both personal and business users.

On July 14th, the company announced new security features designed to track down when user accounts were compromised and to make passwords more secure. The “My friend has been hacked!” feature has been added under the “Mark as” menu in Hotmail to let users notify the email provider if their friends’ accounts appear to have been compromised.

Microsoft will soon start evaluating passwords selected by users to decide if they are strong enough. Weak passwords will be rejected, according to a statement issued by the company.

“At Hotmail, we know that account hijacking is a big problem, and we continue to work hard to prevent it,” Dick Craddock, the Microsoft group program manager responsible for Hotmail, wrote on the Inside Windows Live blog.