Hotmail introduces hacking alert system

 　　SAN FRANCISCO, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Microsoft on Thursday introduces a hacking¹ alert system to its Windows Live Hotmail email service alongside banning common passwords.

　　"When someone's account gets hijacked², their friends often find out before they do, because the hijacker³ uses their account to send spam or phishing email to all their contacts," said Microsoft in a blog post.

　　The new security feature adds a "My friend's been hacked⁴!" option in the "mark as" menu in Hotmail and also enables users to report hacked accounts via the junk mail filing screen.

　　Then an alert will be sent to Microsoft, which will "make sure the account can no longer be used by spammers and activates⁵ an account recovery process to allow the owner to take back control the accounts."

　　Users can report any email account as compromised and Hotmail will provide the information to other email providers like Yahoo! and Gmail, said the blog.

　　Meanwhile, Microsoft said Hotmail will roll out a feature to prevent users from choosing commonly used and weak passwords, such as "123456," "ilovecats" and "gogiants." Users who currently use a weak password will be asked to change to a stronger one in the future.

　　Hotmail, first launched in July 1996, is one of the first free email providers, and was acquired by Microsoft in 1997 for an estimated 400 million U.S. dollars.

　　According to statistics released by comScore last August, Hotmail was then the world's largest web-based email service with around 364 million users, followed by Yahoo! Mail (280 million) and Gmail (191 million).(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

2 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

3 hijacker   

n.拦路抢劫者

参考例句：

• We needed a credibIe hijacker who knew the pIane. 也需要一个懂飞机的让人相信的劫机犯。
• I've never heard of a hijacker Ietting passengers deboard before. 以前也从没听说过有劫机犯让乘客离开。

4 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

5 activates   

使活动，起动，触发( activate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Activates the window and displays it in its current size and position. 激活窗口，保持当前的大小及位置不变。
• Pulling out the alarm switch activates alarm and pushing it deactivates it. 闹钟的开和关是通过拔出和按入闹铃开关实现的。