Microsoft Outlook Breach Targeting Cryptocurrency Users

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHkvDoGBQpjT4W3SvbIPYYq3OcyhA4R4zK1748reunJHUTabTQPZrNb3Q1AnY8mD5qAX4HIbDwkHuqtXWX1cgbPJlfoVL7Tym4y3HotYKXBllGvEWyQTZRx4w1ztbekvKG5Wkl_vikSIe5/s1600/bitcoin_outlook_breach.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="963" data-original-width="1448" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHkvDoGBQpjT4W3SvbIPYYq3OcyhA4R4zK1748reunJHUTabTQPZrNb3Q1AnY8mD5qAX4HIbDwkHuqtXWX1cgbPJlfoVL7Tym4y3HotYKXBllGvEWyQTZRx4w1ztbekvKG5Wkl_vikSIe5/s640/bitcoin_outlook_breach.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> Earlier this month, news broke out that hackers were not only able to access Outlook users’ email metadata as previously reported, but also email content. The breach centered around a hacker getting hold of a Microsoft customer support worker’s login credentials; from there, the hacker could dive into the content of any non-corporate Outlook, Hotmail, or MSN account, Motherboard found.<br /><br />Now, multiple victims have come forward to flag what they believe may be one of the motivating reasons behind the breach: emptying peoples’ cryptocurrency accounts.<br /><br />“The hackers also had access to my inbox allowing them to password reset my Kraken.com account and withdrawal [sic] my Bitcoin,” Jevon Ritmeester, a Microsoft user that the company alerted to the data breach, told in an email, referring to popular cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.<br /><br />For verification purposes, Ritmeester provided Motherboard with the breach notification emails he received from Microsoft, as well as a screenshot showing what he said was an email forwarding rule the hackers set up: anytime an email mentioned the term “Kraken,” his account would automatically forward it to a Gmail address presumably controlled by the hackers.<br /><br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Do you know anything else about this breach? You can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, OTR chat on jfcox@jabber.ccc.de, or email joseph.cox@vice.com</blockquote> <br />That would include emails such as password reset and Bitcoin withdrawal requests. Indeed, Ritmeester only found someone had requested both of those after checking the trash of his email account, he wrote in a recent post on the tech forum Tweakers. In the post, he added that he lost just over 1 bitcoin, or around $5,000 at the current exchange rate.<br /><br />It appears Ritmeester isn’t the only person who hackers stole cryptocurrency from due to the Microsoft breach.<br /><br />“My account was hacked as a direct result of this,” Reddit user shinratechlabs wrote earlier this month, adding that they lost “25,000 in crypto,” although it’s not clear what currency they may be referring to, fiat or otherwise.<br /><br />“Same exact for me only a lot less funds stolen, sucks,” another Reddit user, mickey_ficke, chimed in. Neither Reddit user responded to a request for comment.<br /><br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> “I feel Microsoft is trying to cover up and is not taking this seriously.”</blockquote> <br />In his post on Tweakers, Ritmeester said he didn’t have two-factor authentication enabled on Kraken, which may have kept the hackers out of this cryptocurrency account. If he had it enabled, the hackers may have had to take control of this phone number as well in order to intercept the two-factor authentication tokens, for instance.<br /><br />A Microsoft spokesperson told on Monday that, “Customers who believe they have been impacted beyond what was outlined in the company’s notification should contact the Microsoft support team for assistance.”<br /><br />Originally, when TechCrunch and other outlets reported the Outlook data breach, Microsoft said it only impacted email metadata and customer information, such as subject lines and the names of other email addresses users communicated with. After Motherboard presented Microsoft with evidence that email content had also been impacted, Microsoft revised its statement, despite already being fully aware that content was exposed; the company had issued breach notification emails to victims saying as much. <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwndwn/microsoft-outlook-msn-hotmail-breach-cryptocurrency-bitcoin"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Source</span></a></div>

Bitcoin Cryptocurrency databreach News Microsoft Outlook Breach Targeting Cryptocurrency Users

Earlier this month, news broke out that hackers were not only able to access Outlook users’ email metadata as previously reported, but a...

Read more »

Bitcoin Bank Hacked, Theft of $6,20,000

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrBYVYzRsfVnaUNr447VTqFtwzKDZUNcHJocKWkQNtZ8KpPCHCykPNCC3c7qhrtW8-6iSe2wkHrqQlrUmXalRzjg02z5mPShMs1qQUbx3BBnMJTaUE_JmKor5wZMN-9_bo7jtvuaQohGm/s1600/bitcoin-hacked.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bitcoin Bank Hacked, Theft of $6,20,000" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrBYVYzRsfVnaUNr447VTqFtwzKDZUNcHJocKWkQNtZ8KpPCHCykPNCC3c7qhrtW8-6iSe2wkHrqQlrUmXalRzjg02z5mPShMs1qQUbx3BBnMJTaUE_JmKor5wZMN-9_bo7jtvuaQohGm/s1600/bitcoin-hacked.png" title="Bitcoin Bank Hacked, Theft of $6,20,000" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Flexcoin, famous for making <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Bitcoin" target="_blank">bitcoin</a> banking as easy as regular banking, is no more. The company shut its doors on Tuesday morning after hackers stole 896 bitcoins (nearly $620,000) from its vault on Sunday. And the most unsettling thing? That wasn't even the only bitcoin heist last weekend.<br /> To <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Flexcoin" target="_blank">Flexcoin's</a> credit, it wasn't completely cleaned out by hackers. Hackers did clean out Flexcoin's hot wallet, but an undisclosed number of bitcoins in cold storage were untouched. "Cold storage" simply means that the bitcoins were kept in computers <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Cold_storage" target="_blank">not connected to the internet</a>, an extra level of security for which customers pay an extra 0.5 percent. Flexcoin will give those bitcoins back to customers. Those whose bitcoins were stolen are, well, they're shit out of luck because bitcoins aren't insured like good ol' greenbacks are in most banks.<br /> If this sounds like a familiar story, that's because it is. On Tuesday, another bitcoin firm called <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=499580" target="_blank">Polonix</a> also admitted that hackers broke in and stole 12.5 percent of its reserves, though it plans on replenishing the lost 'coin itself. And who could forget the infamous implosion of Mt.Gox, the Japan-based bitcoin exchange that filed for bankruptcy last week and announced that $424 million worth of cryptocurrency was lost and gone forever. Those just a couple of the major heists and boondoggles on a growing list of heists and boondoggles.<br /> But what do you expect. The burgeoning bitcoin industry is famously unstable and <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Vulnerability" target="_blank">vulnerable</a>. Sure, it's an exciting idea for the sake of liberty and anarchy and whatever! It's just not the safest way to store your money right now, is all.</div>

Bitcoin Cyber Crime Hacking News News Russian Hackers Source Code Bitcoin Bank Hacked, Theft of $6,20,000

Flexcoin, famous for making bitcoin banking as easy as regular banking, is no more. The company shut its doors on Tuesday morning after...

Read more »