Microsoft's Official X Account Followed 'Clippy' After Hack

Microsoft's official account on X followed a cryptocurrency-linked account called Clippy and reshared one of its posts after the account was compromised.

Microsoft confirmed the account had suffered unauthorized access. 'We have confirmed unauthorized access to our account on X that included posts that were not sent by Microsoft,' said Brent Colburn, a Microsoft spokesperson.

Incident details

During the breach, attackers changed the official profile image to a design of the nostalgic Clippy character. The account briefly followed the Clippy page and shared one of its posts; those actions were later removed. About 30 minutes after the initial activity, an apology message appeared on the account and was also quickly deleted.

Response and investigation

Microsoft says it has fully regained control of the account and removed all unauthorized posts.

A technical and security investigation into how the incident occurred is ongoing.