Microsoft's X Account Hacked for Crypto Scam

Hackers hijacked Microsoft's X account for about 30 minutes on October 1 into October 2, using its 13 million followers to promote a fake crypto token tied to the old Office paperclip, Clippy.

The attackers swapped the profile picture to Clippy and had the account follow and repost an account posing as Clippy's comeback, pushing a token called $Clippy and claiming it had a liquidity pool paired with Microsoft's own stock ticker, $MSFT.

Microsoft confirmed the breach directly and said that unauthorized access to its account was confirmed, including posts that did not come from the company. The account 'has been secured and the unauthorized posts have been removed.'

The attackers didn't need to build credibility; they borrowed Microsoft's. A company with a trillion-dollar market cap followed a Clippy fan account and reposted its plea to 'bring Clippy back,' sending a crypto token's promotional material circulating to 13 million people.