MGDPremium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
kudos:9 | reply to Snowy
Re: Hotmail hacked? Yes, they could run consecutive scripts after a wait time from multiple IPs and over time go through a load of passwords. I am not sure what the account lock out settings are for Hotmail.
They can also accrue the contacts in each account to provide a never ending pool of addresses. nwrickert  's phishing scenario is also valid, as I am sure they are not limiting themselves to a single vector. The issue for Live Help though is that there are such a wide range of victims that their error is just assuming that every compromised account report equals a victim who was conned out of their password or has an infected machine.
Many of the reports also describe an after effect of a malfunctioning account. Presumably the operation of sending spam to batches of a half dozen addresses at a time, and the addition of a spam signature is also a scripted event.
Though there are a considerable amount of similar reports over a long period, I do not see any reports of the known method of compromise, or detailed analysis. Clearly though, the purpose is identical, and the accounts appear "borrowed".
MGD |
