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On the morning of April 13, 2019, Microsoft disclosed that a hacker has been accessing Outlook.com accounts across a three-month span.
From January 1 through March 28, this hacker has been able to see the email addresses, folder names, and subject lines, but not the contents of the email or folders.
No personal information has been recovered by the hacker, but the Microsoft team has considered this a breach of privacy for the group of people affected, and have encouraged Outlook users to change their passwords.
The team sent an email out to everyone who had been affected by the hacker.
The email read:
“Our data indicate that account-related information may have been viewed, but Microsoft has no indication why it was viewed or how it was used. As a result, you may receive phishing emails. You should be careful when receiving any e-mails from any misleading domain name, any e-mail that requests payment, personal information, or unsolicited requests.
It is important to know that your personal email login credentials have not been directly impacted. However, out of caution, passwords for your account should be reset.”
It is unknown exactly how many people were affected by the breach or what actions are being taken against the hacker for their actions.
Although this breach did affect a group of people, it seems minuscule compared to the one discovered in mid-January of 2019.
Nearly eight million emails had been hacked at that time, and approximately 21 million passwords had been retrieved by the hacker.
The information was seemingly accumulated over a number of years, some passwords having been set in 2008.
In addition to emails, social media is being hacked as well. People from around the world are retrieving passwords from Facebook user’s accounts, and tagging hundreds of people in the comment sections of certain posts.
In any case, users of all platforms are encouraged to change their passwords and use a program that ensures password security.
Written by Trinity Oglesby
Edited by Barbara Sobel
Sources:
9OT5 Mac: PSA: Microsoft says hackers had access to some Outlook․com accounts for months
The Verge: Microsoft reveals hackers accessed some Outlook.com accounts for months
Engadget: Microsoft webmail breach exposed email addresses and subject lines
CNET: Massive breach leaks 773 million email addresses, 21 million passwords
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Mike Mozart’s Flickr Page- Creative Commons License