Microsoft email hack reportedly targeted crypto users

Earlier this month, reports surfaced suggesting there had been a Microsoft Outlook breach, with latest reports suggesting the breach was targeted at crypto users.

The latest report has been provided by Motherboard, who also revealed that the contents of Microsoft Outlook had been compromised.

It is believed that the breach led to email contents being compromised and not just metadata as previously reported.

The breach centred around a hacker gaining access to the login accreditation of a Microsoft customer. From there, the hacker was able to delve into the contents of non-corporate Outlook, MSN and and Hotmail accounts.

Motherboard is now reporting on how several people have come forward to state the breach may have been targeting crypto users.

One user reached out to Motherboard and told them: “the hackers also had access to my inbox, allowing them to password reset my Kraken.com account and withdraw my Bitcoin”.

The user only discovered his Kraken account had been compromised after checking his trash folder in his emails. They have reportedly lost more than one Bitcoin, which was valued at roughly $5,000.

A separate user made a Reddit post inquiring into whether these breaches are a regular occurrence. Another user commented, revealing that they had lost “25,000 in crypto” with the hackers only having access to their emails – though they have not specified which currency in particular they are talking about.

As always with technology, hackers will continue to find ways to circumvent security measures and compromise databases.

According to various reports, Microsoft has not commented on how the Outlook accounts had been breached, though it did immediately disable the compromised credentials that it was alerted to.

Interested in reading more about hacks, scams and how to prevent yourself from falling victim to them? Discover more on how to spot a Bitcoin blackmail email scam and how to avoid being duped by one.