Microsoft Warns Against Russian Hackers

  • Microsoft Corp MSFT admitted that the SolarWinds Corp SWI hackers by the Russian nation-state actor Nobelium have engaged in jeopardizing global networks by targeting the tech supply chain, including resellers and providers of cloud technology.
  • Microsoft informed over 140 technology service providers and resellers that Nobelium has targeted. Microsoft believes that the hackers have compromised 14 of them.
  • The attackers weren’t attempting to exploit any flaws or vulnerabilities in software but instead using “well-known” techniques to steal credentials.
  • Microsoft attributes the coordinated attack, first observed in May, to Nobelium, the same state-sponsored Russian hackers. They used sophisticated intrusion techniques in 2020 to infect with malware of up to 18,000 customers of SolarWinds, Bloomberg reports.
  • Nobelium was responsible for an attack on IT companies, governments, think tanks, and financial service entities earlier this year that spanned 36 countries.
  • The Kremlin repeatedly denied responsibility for any hacking attacks. This time, between July and October this year, “we informed 609 customers that they had been attacked 22,868 times by Nobelium, with a success rate in the low single digits,” Microsoft VP Tom Burt said.
  • “This recent activity is another indicator that Russia is trying to gain long-term, systematic access to a variety of points in the technology supply chain.” 
  • Related Content: More Revelations On SolarWinds Hack
  • Price Action: MSFT shares traded lower by 0.50% at $307.62 on the last check Monday.
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