Thousands of Hotmail Accounts Allegedly Hacked
October 5, 2009 by Rico Mossesgeld
Filed under Services
Can hotmail users confirm this? According to Neowin, someone posted on pastebin a list of ten-thousand hotmail accounts—complete with corresponding passwords. The list is helpfully sorted from A to B, which for some reason according to Neowin, suggests that other lists are stored somewhere online.
Even if this report turns out to be false, it’s still a good reminder to change your web email password now, regardless of what service you’re using. For something that’s literally the foundation of the online existence of millions, it’s amazing how few practice good security and change it on a regular basis. For hotmail users, may I also remind them not to accidentally visit hotmale.com?
Which accounts are affected? According to Neowin: “Currently it appears only accounts used to access Microsoft’s Windows Live Hotmail have been posted, this includes @hotmail.com, @msn.com and @live.com accounts”. The site has done the right thing and contacted Microsoft PR reps in the US and UK to keep them in the loop and possibly elicit feedback regarding the situation.
Technology Viewer suggests that, after those who are allegedly affected change their passwords, they should switch to Gmail ASAP. Personally, I find that sound advice, but I’m not sure what can be done for online services that don’t allow email changes.
The Hotmail security breach is an embarrassing blow to U.S. technology giant Microsoft
Don’t you just love how the MS haters come out for stuff like this? So now that its known to be widespread, where are sites and commentors posting their mea culpas now?
Oh don’t worry, here’s mine.