Microsoft has issued a statement regarding its actions in response to the January 12 hack of corporate email by the hacking group Midnight Blizzard, also known as Nobelium and “sponsored by the Russian state.” The incident, according to the corporation, demonstrated the need to apply the latest security tools “to legacy systems and internal business processes,” “given the reality of threats from entities that receive resources and are funded by national authorities.”
An internal investigation found that criminal activity had been occurring since late November 2023. Hackers used the password for an outdated “non-production account” to gain access to corporate email.
As a result, the correspondence of several high-level employees, as well as lawyers and cybersecurity specialists, was copied. At the same time, Microsoft clarifies that access was obtained “to a very small percentage of corporate email accounts.”
The hack did not affect customers or their data in any way. It is also known that the scammers “initially targeted email accounts for information related to Midnight Blizzard.”
As part of the Secure Future Initiative (SFI), announced at the end of 2023, the company intends to improve security systems, including the use of artificial intelligence developments and innovative engineering solutions.
The incident forces Microsoft to change the balance between security and business risks and decide to implement the latest technologies faster than planned:
“Traditional calculation is no longer enough. “We will take immediate steps to apply our new security standards to legacy systems and internal business processes, even though these changes may cause disruptions to existing business processes.”
Author:
Ekaterina Alipova
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
