Microsoft’s Skype Twitter Account HACKED with Anti-Hotmail and Outlook Messaging

Hackers claiming to represent the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) decided to deface Skype's social media pages with disparaging messages about Microsoft and its digital properties. On Skype's Twitter page, for example, the hackers posted a status update telling followers not to use Microsoft's email services (Hotmail and Outlook) because "they are monitoring your accounts and selling the data to the governments."

Skype eventually regained control of its Twitter account, but not before the restless bunch of hackers posted Steve Ballmer's contact information. It was followed by a message that read, "You can thank Microsoft for monitoring your accounts/emails using this details. #SEA."


The SEA, if truly responsible, seems to be motivated mostly by the National Security Agency's (NSA) surveillance policies. In addition to Twitter, the hackers vandalized Skype's blog with posts imploring the VoIP service to stop allowing the NSA backdoor access, as revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Similar messages were also posted on Skype's Facebook page.

"You may have noticed our social media properties were targeted today," Skype posted to Twitter after regaining control of its account. "No user info was compromised. We're sorry for the inconvenience."

Likely a result of falling on New Year's Day when most people are out of the office, SEA's initial fake tweet remained online for over two hours and was retweeted over 8,200 times.

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