How to Protect Yourself From a Recent Microsoft Data Breach
You’ve probably seen intimidating headlines about the 250 million Microsoft users that have been compromised by a recent data breach. While these numbers are accurate, they do not represent the entire story – it was not as dangerous as it seems. Let’s take a quick look at the details of the hack and how to protect your data from further misuse.
First and foremost, your personal information is probably safe, at least for now. The hack was the fault of Microsoft – the company accidentally left its customer service records database open for two days before fixing the problem. Despite the fact that the database contained information on 250 million people, in fact, very little of it could be used. Almost all personal information has been removed from the records, with the exception of some email addresses and IP addresses.
If you’ve never used Microsoft Help and Support, it probably doesn’t concern you. And even if your information is revealed, the hackers probably won’t be able to do anything with what was there, although they can still try.
Microsoft says it found no evidence that the database was being accessed for “malicious use,” but the company warns that open emails can be used to send phishing attacks from accounts posing as Microsoft’s official support team. For example, a hacker could use data from email exchanges to send someone a fake message about their problem with links that redirect to fake login pages that steal your login details.
Here’s our quick tip for that . Watch out for random Microsoft Support emails if you have used this service in the past, and be careful not to click on any random links that feel like the slightest bit without prompts. Otherwise, there is nothing to worry about about this data leak.