{"id":12435,"date":"2017-01-04T10:49:58","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T05:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.taragana.com\/?p=12435"},"modified":"2017-01-04T10:49:58","modified_gmt":"2017-01-04T05:19:58","slug":"steps-to-secure-and-protect-your-skype-account-from-hacking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.taragana.com\/steps-to-secure-and-protect-your-skype-account-from-hacking-12435","title":{"rendered":"Steps to secure and protect your Skype account from Hacking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Skype accounts are being hacked since at least August last year. Breached Skype accounts are used to send thousands of spam messages before they’re locked by Microsoft. The owners then have to regain access and that is when most find out about it. Skype has fallen victim to similar attacks before, and hackers were able to spoof messages on the system in 2015 after using lists of stolen usernames and passwords to gain access to accounts.
\nProblem<\/strong>
\nThis wave of attack appears to be growing in size, and Skype users who opted for Microsoft’s two-factor security are also vulnerable. Microsoft offers the ability to link a Skype and Microsoft Account together to make sign-in and security easier. It turns out that Microsoft keeps your original Skype account password separate so that it can still be used to access the service with a Skype username. If that password isn’t secure then hackers can use it to gain access to your Skype account, bypassing any two-factor authentication provided by Microsoft. Essentially Microsoft has left a backdoor open to their vaunted two-factor security! It can be safely assumed that the new wave of attack is dictionary based and Skype \/ Microsoft allows unlimited login tries at some entry point.
\nSolution<\/strong>
\nThe solution, in brief, is to switch to Microsoft’s two-factor security<\/strong> and then disable access by old method<\/strong>.
\n1. Update your Skype account to a Microsoft account:<\/p>\n