An Internet security expert who provided details on Friday at Microsoft Email Hack said tens of thousands of businesses, cities and local companies in the United States have come under attack from a group of government-backed hackers.
“At least 30,000 systems […] According to several sources, the extraordinarily aggressive Chinese Cyber Response Unit, which focuses on email theft, has been hacked in recent days, ”Brian Krebs said on his Gripson security blog.
Microsoft on Tuesday warned hackers in the so-called “Hafnium” group to exploit security holes in its transactional news services to steal data from business users.
This “highly qualified and sophisticated player”, a computer company, has in the past targeted companies already targeted in the United States, particularly in the field of research on infectious diseases, law firms, universities, security firms, think tanks and voluntary charities.
“The spy team has exploited four new flaws in the Exchange software and planted tools in hundreds of thousands of companies around the world, giving attackers full remote control over their infected computers,” Brian Krebs explained in detail.
“The threat is serious,” White House spokeswoman Jen Saki told a news conference Friday.
He further added that the attack is now “operating to protect themselves using these servers” before calling communities “likely to have a much wider impact”.
On Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Tom Burt said his company had released updates to fix bugs and urged customers to use them.
“We know that many state actors and criminal groups will act quickly to use any unconnected organization,” he warned. “The quicker use of relics is the best defense against this attack.”
According to Microsoft, Hafnium is located in China, but operates through virtual private servers leased in the United States.
Chinese hackers have accused Beijing of slandering Washington last year over allegations that it is trying to steal research on the corona virus.
In January, US authorities named Russia as the prime suspect in a massive hacking case against Solar Winds, which contradicted former President Donald Trump, who accused China of being the source of the intrusion into software from the US government and thousands. Of private companies.
Microsoft said on Tuesday that the Hafnium attacks were “not in any way related to individual attacks related to solar winds”.
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