Microsoft : Syrian Hackers Hacked Into Employee Accounts
Microsoft yesterday confirmed that the Syrian Electronic Army accessed a “small number” of employee e-mail accounts.
As The Verge notes, those published screenshots “mainly discuss[ed] the latest compromises of several Microsoft-owned Twitter accounts.” Included among the published screenshots was an email from Steve Clayton to Frank Shaw.
The Syrian Electronic Army — a political hacking group that supports Syrian President Bashar Assad — appears to be waging a war on Microsoft. Over the weekend, the group took control of the Twitter accounts of Xbox and Xbox Support, along with Xbox’s Instagram account.
As the Verge reports, it’s not immediately clear how many email accounts were targeted during the recent attacks, or how much data the Syrian Electronic Army were able to obtain before the accounts were reset. A Syrian Electronic Army representative says that the latest attacks were designed to be a distraction, indicating there could be further compromises in future. “We are making some distraction for Microsoft employees so we can success in our main mission,” the SEA told The Verge by email.
