When it comes to “account theft,” slightly older friends are certainly familiar with it. Especially before 2010, account theft was rampant, primarily targeting QQ accounts and various game accounts.
After 2010, as Microsoft’s Windows operating system, applications like QQ, and relevant regulations became increasingly strict and improved, the difficulty and cost of account theft increased significantly, leading to fundamental changes and improvements in the overall situation.
However, even today, account theft has not and cannot completely disappear because valuable accounts can yield profits. As long as there are profits to be made, people will go to great lengths to steal accounts. So, this issue will never fully disappear. Even now, we occasionally hear about the social media accounts of celebrities (like Weibo) being hacked.
Recently, an “interesting” account theft incident occurred, which I’d like to share. At this point, some might question: while account theft isn’t as common as before, it’s not rare either, so what’s so “interesting” about this case?
If it were just an ordinary account theft incident, it wouldn’t be worth sharing. The reason this incident is noteworthy is that the stolen account was quite special—it was the official X (formerly Twitter) account of Microsoft India.
Yes, you read that right. The official X account of Microsoft India was hacked. Even a tech giant like Microsoft has had its security breached.
The purpose of the hackers in stealing Microsoft India’s official X account was to commit fraud. Specifically, the hackers impersonated Microsoft India to promote and advertise cryptocurrency scam websites, luring unsuspecting, naive individuals into investing. This type of scam is commonly known as “phishing.”
The specific techniques used by the hackers to steal Microsoft India’s official X account are currently unknown and under investigation. It is speculated that the likely cause was password leaks and the absence of 2FA (two-factor authentication).
It’s important to note that Microsoft India is not the only victim of account theft. Previously, the official X account of the US regulatory body SEC was also hacked to post fraudulent Bitcoin advertisements, using phishing methods to commit fraud.
Additionally, Elon Musk’s X account was hacked, with the hacker posting as Musk, claiming to give away Bitcoin to followers and providing a link. If followers clicked on the link and followed the instructions, their personal information would be stolen.
To be fair, although the official X account of Microsoft India was hacked, technically, this issue had little to do with Microsoft India itself and even less with the Windows operating system. The main cause was the insufficient security verification of Microsoft India’s X account, making both Microsoft India and the X platform responsible and highlighting the need for further strengthening and improvement.
This incident reminds us once again:
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Even if the information appears on certain official social media accounts, it cannot be guaranteed to be completely accurate and reliable, as these accounts can be hacked, and false information can be posted by imposters.
Therefore, we must be cautious. If we encounter similar situations, we should not easily believe them but verify and confirm through multiple channels.
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