[LINK] Hotmail compromised

[Jan Whitaker]

Hot mail: stolen email account details appear online

http://www.theage.com.au/technology/security/hot-mail-stolen-email-account-details-appear-online-20091006-gjqc.html


MEX COOPER

October 6, 2009 - 8:17AM

Hotmail users have been advised to change their passwords after 
thousands of email account details were posted online in a massive 
security breach.

Microsoft said its email users had become victim to a phishing attack 
when the account details were posted online.

"Upon learning of the issue, we immediately requested that the 
credentials be removed and launched an investigation to determine the 
impact to customers," Microsoft said in a 
<http://windowslivewire.spaces.live.com/>post on the Windows Live team blog.

Technology blog neowin.net first 
<http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/10/05/thousands-of-hotmail-passwords-leaked-online>reported 
the security breach last night and said more than 10,000 stolen 
account details had been posted at 
<http://pastebin.com/>pastebin.com, a website used to share code.

Neowin said the list detailed mostly Europe-based accounts starting 
from A through to B, suggesting more lists could exist. The list has 
since been removed.

Phishing schemes involve sending fraudulent but legitimate-looking 
emails to dupe people into revealing passwords and security information.

The emails often direct online users to sham websites, which are 
difficult to spot as fakes.

Microsoft recommends users change their email password every 90 days 
and keep anti-virus software up to date.

Those affected included email users whose addresses ended with 
@hotmail.com, @msn.com and @live.com



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

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