Microsoft's X Account Hacked to Promote Clippy Crypto Scam

A major security breach occurred when scammers hijacked Microsoft's official X account, using it to promote a cryptocurrency called $Clippy token. The attackers replaced the account's profile picture with an image of Clippy, the animated paperclip assistant from older versions of Office, and posted a message from the account behind the $Clippy token. This account, @clippymsftcto, posed as Clippy and has since been suspended.

The account behind the $Clippy token kept pushing the token, stating that its liquidity pool was paired with $MSFT. The posts were eventually taken down, but not before an apology appeared on the Microsoft account, roughly 30 minutes later, and was deleted soon after. The apology stated that Microsoft was aware of a token being marketed in connection with its stock that used the Clippy brand without permission.

The company confirmed that its account was taken over and used to amplify the $Clippy token, stating, 'We have confirmed unauthorized access to our account on X, including posts that did not come from Microsoft.' A Microsoft spokesperson added that 'The account has been secured and the unauthorized posts have been removed, and we are continuing to investigate the circumstances.'

Microsoft has not revealed how the attackers gained access to its account, but experts note that hackers have several options beyond tricking a social media manager into entering their credentials on a phishing page. These options include SIM swapping, email address hijacking, and using infostealer malware to steal browser session cookies from an active login.