Microsoft has just revealed that it suffered a breach earlier this year and hackers were able to access certain user email information
In an email sent to impacted users and obtained by
TechCrunch, Microsoft explains that a malicious actor managed to compromise the credentials of a Microsoft support agent.
This allowed individuals not working for Microsoft to access information stored in Microsoft email accounts (@outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @msn.com), and according to the cited source, businesses weren’t affected.
The information exposed to hackers includes email addresses, folder names, subject lines of emails, names of other email addresses that users communicate with. No email content or attachments were exposed to hackers, Microsoft claims.
The unauthorized access was recorded between January 1, 2019 and March 28, 2019, Microsoft says, but the company hasn’t provided any specifics as to how the hackers managed to compromise the credentials of the support agent.
Passwords not exposed
The software giant says it immediately disabled the compromised account once it detected the breach.
“Upon awareness of this issue, Microsoft immediately disabled the compromised credentials, prohibiting their use for any further unauthorized access. Our data indicates that account-related information (but not the content of any e-mails) could have been viewed, but Microsoft has no indication why that information was viewed or how it may have been used,” the firm says in the email sent to affected users.
Microsoft now warns of an increasing number of phishing emails that could be sent to users, and it recommends everyone to reset passwords. However, it’s important to know that passwords weren’t exposed to hackers, albeit Microsoft says it’s better to change them “out of caution.”
For now, it’s not yet known how many users were exposed, but as per the cited source, there’s a chance at least some are based in Europe.
You can read the full email below, and for additional information and assistance, you can reach out to the company’s Incident Response Team at ipg-ir@microsoft.com.
Dear Customer
Microsoft is committed to providing our customers with transparency. As part of maintaining this trust and commitment to you, we are informing you of a recent event that affected your Microsoft-managed email account.
We have identified that a Microsoft support agent’s credentials were compromised, enabling individuals outside Microsoft to access information within your Microsoft email account. This unauthorized access could have allowed unauthorized parties to access and/or view information related to your email account (such as your e-mail address, folder names, the subject lines of e-mails, and the names of other e-mail addresses you communicate with), but not the content of any e-mails or attachments, between January 1st 2019 and March 28th 2019.
Upon awareness of this issue, Microsoft immediately disabled the compromised credentials, prohibiting their use for any further unauthorized access. Our data indicates that account-related information (but not the content of any e-mails) could have been viewed, but Microsoft has no indication why that information was viewed or how it may have been used. As a result, you may receive phishing emails or other spam mails. You should be careful when receiving any e-mails from any misleading domain name, any e-mail that requests personal information or payment, or any unsolicited request from an untrusted source (you can read more about phishing attacks at
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows...e/phishing).
It is important to note that your email login credentials were not directly impacted by this incident. However, out of caution, you should reset your password for your account.
If you require further assistance, or have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to our Incident Response Team at ipg-ir@microsoft.com. If you are a citizen of European Union, you may also contact Microsoft’s Data Protection Officer at:
EU Data Protection Officer
Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd
One Microsoft Place,
South County Business Park,
Leopardstown, Dublin 18, Ireland
dpoffice@microsoft.com
Microsoft regrets any inconvenience caused by this issue. Please be assured that Microsoft takes data protection very seriously and has engaged its internal security and privacy teams in the investigation and resolution of the issue, as well as additional hardening of systems and processes to prevent such recurrence.
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