– Microsoft was attacked by hackers with ties to the Russian state
Emails from senior Microsoft executives have been hacked by hackers linked to Russian intelligence services.
Published today at 2:13am
The last attack occurred on January 12th.
AFP
Hackers with ties to Russian intelligence services hacked the emails of high-ranking Microsoft executives, according to a court document from the American IT giant.
According to Microsoft, the perpetrator of the cyber attack is “Midnight Blizzard”. According to information from Washington and London, this group operates in conjunction with Russian foreign intelligence services. “This actor is known to primarily target states, diplomatic entities, non-governmental organizations and IT service providers in the United States and Europe,” Microsoft said in a blog post last August about an earlier cyberattack.
“They attempt to gather information through long-term spying on foreign interests.” The activities of “Midnight Blizzard,” also known as “Nobelium,” were traced back to early 2018, according to Microsoft.
The attack began in November 2023
The company's security team discovered the latest attack on January 12 and triggered defenses that blocked the hackers from further access. The attack began last November when hackers tried passwords for a number of accounts and gained access to an old test account, Microsoft's court document said.
The hackers then used this “breakpoint” to access specific Microsoft employee accounts, including those of executives and security team members, and retrieve emails and attachments. “The investigation shows that the hackers initially attacked email accounts to obtain information related to Midnight Blizzard itself,” Microsoft said.
According to the company, there is no evidence that the hackers accessed customer accounts, production systems, source code or artificial intelligence software at Microsoft. “Faced with the reality of well-resourced and state-sponsored malicious actors, we are seeking a new balance between security and business risk,” Microsoft said.
“We will act immediately and apply our current security standards to legacy systems and internal business processes owned by Microsoft, even though these changes risk disrupting existing business processes.”
AFP
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