Microsoft tweets advice about phishing, but too late to save Skype

Microsoft’s security team just tweeted a handy link, educating users about the dangers of phishing.

Microsoft tweet about phishing

Hmmph. Interesting timing…

Just two days ago, Skype (which, you may know, is owned by Microsoft) had its Twitter account, Facebook page and blog hijacked after Syrian Electronic Army hackers phished password information from one of the company’s social media team.

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To pour salt into the wounds, it was Microsoft that the hackers had a poke at with their mischievous tweets from Skype’s compromised account.

Hacked Skype account

Once Skype had wrestled control of its Twitter account back into legitimate hands, it apologised for the inconvenience.

Ironically, Skype's accounts were phished a couple of days ago

I guess it’s as good time as any for Microsoft to help internet users learn how to spot a phishing attack. I hope they shared that advice with their colleagues at Skype as well.

Oh well, better late than never I suppose.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.

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