Outlook.com Breach

[Annie_M]

I was just on Twitter and saw several tweets that there has been a breach on Outlook.com which potentially impacts Outlook, Hotmail and MSN users. Initial reports were that only a small number of users were impacted, but from what I'm seeing on Twitter, it's a lot worse. Hackers could apparently read emails on all three. So if you have an account on one of these three services, it would be wise to change your passwords.

 

[nikkisharif]

I saw this on the news this morning. There’s been tons of breaches lately..SHEESH

 

[Annie_M]

I saw this on the news this morning. There’s been tons of breaches lately..SHEESH

I know, right?

 

[nikkisharif]

I know, right?

It’s been crazy!! I don’t have an outlook.com account anymore but who’s to say it won’t happen to another account.

 

[Just_Me_D]

I was just on Twitter and saw several tweets that there has been a breach on Outlook.com which potentially impacts Outlook, Hotmail and MSN users. Initial reports were that only a small number of users were impacted, but from what I'm seeing on Twitter, it's a lot worse. Hackers could apparently read emails on all three. So if you have an account on one of these three services, it would be wise to change your passwords.

What’s confusing to me is this: The Outlook breach, like the others before it, appeared to have been a breach of the service itself, and thus, hackers were able to view private information belonging to we the people. With that being said, is simply changing my passcode enough? Furthermore, if 2-factor authentication was already enabled on my account, how were they able to bypass it, IF they were able to? Know what I mean?

 

[Lee_Bo]

What’s confusing to me is this: The Outlook breach, like the others before it, appeared to have been a breach of the service itself, and thus, hackers were able to view private information belonging to we the people. With that being said, is simply changing my passcode enough? Furthermore, if 2-factor authentication was already enabled on my account, how were they able to bypass it, IF they were able to? Know what I mean?

Probably. But to me, Outlook is about as useful as Yahoo.

 

[Annie_M]

What’s confusing to me is this: The Outlook breach, like the others before it, appeared to have been a breach of the service itself, and thus, hackers were able to view private information belonging to we the people. With that being said, is simply changing my passcode enough? Furthermore, if 2-factor authentication was already enabled on my account, how were they able to bypass it, IF they were able to? Know what I mean?

These are good and reasonable questions. I have a Hotmail account, that is old. I stopped using it for my primary account years ago because of all the spam. My feelings are the same as @Lee_Bo - I pretty much feel the same way about Yahoo!

 

[EdwinG]

Here’s my take on the Microsoft Outlook.com breach.

The truth to the matter is that service security is hard for any company, whether it’s Alphabet (Google), Apple or Microsoft.

Yes, Microsoft suffered a breach on their Outlook.com service. But it doesn’t mean that Alphabet or Apple won’t. They will, it’s not a question of if, but when. There are many attacks against different service providers.

It’s how you deal with it that matters. For me, Microsoft did deal pretty well with the situation, by disclosing the breach publicly and disabling the credentials of the affected employee. Yahoo did not; they were first breached in 2013, but it took over 3 years for it to become public.

There are legitimate questions to be answered. Would have multi-factor authentication helped? What measures will they put in place to avoid such a situation to repeat itself? It’s a wait and see right now.