2024-01-19 22:33:53
Microsoft said Friday that a Russian state-sponsored group hacked into its corporate systems on Jan. 12 and stole emails and documents from its staff accounts.
A group of Russian hackers, known in the cybersecurity industry as Nobelium or Midnight Blizzard, used a “password spray attack” starting in November 2023 to break into a Microsoft platform, the company said in a blog post. Hackers use this technique to infiltrate a company’s systems by using the same password on multiple accounts.
The Russian group was able to access “a very small percentage” of Microsoft corporate email accounts, including members of the management team and employees in cybersecurity, legal and other functions, a Microsoft said.
Microsoft’s threat research team regularly investigates state hackers such as Midnight Blizzard, and the company said its investigation into the latest breach indicated that the hackers initially targeted email accounts containing information regarding Midnight Blizzard.
The Russian Embassy in Washington and the Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Microsoft said it investigated the incident and disrupted the malicious activity, blocking the threat actor’s access to its systems. (Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui and Harshita Mary Varghese; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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