When Microsoft itself gets hacked

On Jan 12th, 2024, Microsoft announced that it blamed Russian hackers for an attack on its email systems that gave the perpetrators access to the content of message threads from its own security and legal departments.

Apparently, the hack occurred in November 2023 but was only discovered in the following January. MS reported the breach to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is now a federal legal requirement for any public company that has suffered a data breach.

The ultimate irony was perhaps that the hackers targeted Microsoft’s own security department, causing red faces at MS HQ in Redmond, Washington. A MS spokesperson stated that the hackers had used a technique known as ‘password spraying’, whereby common passwords are used very rapidly over thousands of email accounts. One of those passwords apparently worked on an old test account, and from there, the hacker used the account’s privileges to search through other accounts of legal and security staff. This allowed the miscreants to find out much of what MS knew about the Russian hacker group involved.

But what does this breach mean for the ordinary person? Firstly, the important lesson is to always use scrambled passwords that have been randomly generated, as opposed to something like ‘password123’.

Those of us smugly typing into our Apple computers, who run our own encrypted mail servers, might allow ourselves a little dry smile of schadenfreude at Microsoft’s expense – but do Joe & Joanna Citizen need to worry about being hacked, even if they have the latest laptop and operating system? Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding yes!

Put simply, if hackers can break into Microsoft HQ security department’s emails, they shouldn’t find the average person’s 10-year-old Dell PC to be much of a challenge. But there is one weapon in the private person’s armory that can make them invisible to hackers, and it’s called a free VPN for Chrome. A virtual private network (VPN) works by placing a third-party intermediary encrypted server in between the user’s device and their regular internet service provider (ISP). This is often achieved via a VPN browser extension, in the example of the Google Chrome browser above.

That encrypted server shields the VPN user’s identity and actual location from anyone, so not even the person’s ISP can know who is accessing the internet or from where. It’s this anonymity and location cloaking that can save ordinary folks from being hacked, simply by being unobtrusive.

It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that bling!

You might think of using a VPN as something like the difference between leaving a designer handbag in full view on the passenger seat of a parked Ferrari or hiding that same article under the parcel shelf of an old compact Ford. The bag still contains the same valuables, but passing thieves would almost certainly break the sports car’s window and make off with the loot, while ignoring the old car parked next door. Likewise, especially if you’re always online for your business life, whether you’re a social media influencer, freelance graphic designer or run an eBay shop – if you’re visible online, you’re a target for a hacker’s devilish idle hands.

There are a couple of additional advantages to using a VPN, besides security, which can be very beneficial to the private individual. Let’s take a quick look at the most helpful benefits:

When the price is right, they come on down

If you’ve never heard of the term ‘dynamic pricing’ the chances are that you’ve been overcharged for something in the last few years if you’ve ever bought anything online. The phrase refers to the practice of charging visitors to online shopping sites based on what the site’s analytics software ‘thinks’ the customer can afford. The artificial intelligence (AI) Bots scan each visitor’s credentials by locating their IP address (in effect, where they’re located while shopping online) and then assess what device the person is using at the time.

So, the chances are that if you’re accessing the web from an IP address that puts you in downtown Manhattan, and you’re using the very latest iPhone – that AI Bot is going to inflate the price it displays to you. However, if you’re using a VPN, the encrypted server hides your location and the device you’re using. What’s more, if you were booking a hotel room in, say, Mexico, you could use your VPN to log onto the web from a Mexican IP address. You would then probably be offered a lower price and the ability to pay in Pesos, a better deal all round

Ease back the throttle

Ever been watching a TV streaming service like Apple TV, NBC Universal or Netflix and encountered that pesky spinning wheel in the center of the screen as data struggles to get through to your smart TV? Ever been gaming online and the lags just keep getting worse until the connection is unusable? The chances are that your ISP is ‘throttling’ your connection – slowing the data transfer rate to a crawl to discourage you from using up so much bandwidth. Consequently, your ISP hopes that you’ll ask them to upgrade your internet contract.

Those ISPs are crafty too – they can ‘throttle’ the connection between your device and the streaming platform you’re visiting, but they leave all the popular ‘speed test’ sites unhindered. So, your Netflix stutters and fails – you go to ‘speed-test dot whatever’ and check – you’re getting your usual 75Mbps. You naturally blame Netflix for the slowdown. It's a sharp practice by ISPs, but it happens all the time.

However, if you install a VPN extension onto the device you’re using, the ISP can’t throttle your connection to the streaming platform because it can’t detect who you are, nor your location by IP address. Customer 1 – ISP Nil!
In summary, there’s no good reason not to use a VPN whenever accessing the web, whether it’s to protect you from hackers, save money shopping online or keep your data connection fast. It’s quite simply  a no brainer.

Happy surfing!