Regular reader David B. wrote recently to say that hackers are working relentlessly to break into people’s accounts using passwords they have found online from big data breaches.
He suggested I look at my Microsoft account to see a sample of what he was talking about. So I did that. And…. WOW…. every few hours hackers from around the world were trying to log into my account.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Scroll down the list.
Do you believe this… crooks from Brazil, Argentina, Russia, China, Ukraine, Bosnia, Chile, etc. are trying to access my account multiple times a day!
What can you do to protect yourself? I’m no security expert, but at a minimum turn on two-factor authentication on your various accounts, so it is not just a simple password that is needed to log in. You will typically instantly be sent an email with an additional passcode that you have to enter in order to access your account. Using a passkey is another way that some sites use where face recognition or a fingerprint is needed to authenticate your access.
To check your own Microsoft account for hacker activity, go to Account.Microsoft.com, and sign in. Once you do that, select “security” from the menu, and then “View my sign-in activity.”
You will be shocked.
Here are some resources to help improve your computer security:
Thanks for the unsettling tip to check Microsoft to see how frequently sign in attempts are made to my Microsoft account. I found 3-6 attempts a day from many countries, mostly China but also four others. No attempts made in the US.
I am glad(er) now I do have 2 factor authentication in effect.
I am also worried about the successful logins from the US. Were those my logins, or did crooks succeed in getting in?
I recently got an email from Petsmart.com telling me they are aware of recent strong arm attempts to break into customer accounts and their records showed my account was accessed. Another good tip is to NEVER store your credit card info in an account. Always enter it for each transaction and uncheck the “Save CC info” box. If there isn’t that option, remember to go back and delete it
They are likely your logins. I had this problem and made a new email for my most important accounts. I don’t share it with anyone else. It’s helped so far.
Use Privacy.Com to generate virtual credit cards. They can Only be used at the first company that charges to them.
26 attempts at MS over the last 3 days, South America and Mexico mostly, 4 USA. Yikes! I use 2-factor most places but not all. Think maybe I’ll increase such use.
Researched fingerprint scanners and that was a useless endeavor. Most reviews are old and more current ones have so much conflicting info I’ve discarded everything I have read.
Every 15 minutes someone from some corner of the earth is trying to access my Microsoft account….it’s crazy!!!!!
NOTE: If you use a VPN, you will see successful logins from other places
I couldn’t sign in because someone had tried unsuccessfully to sign in too many times
I am amazed! …And discouraged.
I rarely use my MS account, so I am not surprised it came up with only my current login. For best security ,and equally important, privacy I use Proton as my important email. For lesser emails, I use google.
My PW is never less than 20 characters and up to 100 if allowed. For 2FA I use the Yubico Key, which I find much more secure than SMS (which can be broken).
My gmail account has had several attempts, but none were successful.
As A.I. gets better, I expect privacy/security to get worse.
Such good information! I discovered amost 40 intrusions in a 30 day period! This will be on my to-do list monthly to clean that out. I think I saw more locations that I’ve only seen in news reports.
Thank you Ed. Truly helpful. I had tens of dozens of global login attempts! Set up 2 factor now. I am not active on Microsoft, so, this was enlightening.
I had only two unsuccessful attempts to get into my account in the last two months. Both from the US and out of state. I understand now the importance of two step verification.
I was getting hundreds of attempts throughout the day and it made it difficult for me to login to my account legitimately…
What finally stopped it was creating a new alias and setting it as my primary (the one you login with)
Obviously 2fa to keep your account secure, but changing the alias will STOP the attempts, because the login credentials will change
I couldn’t remember the last time I logged into Microsoft so I took your advice. I couldn’t find my password so used my email to reset it. Now I have a current account and it shows me being the only person attempting a log in since forever.
Now I regret doing it because hackers will probably start working on it.