According to Microsoft Corp., emails connected to Western European government agencies have been compromised by a China-based hacking gang.
Microsoft stated in a blog post on Tuesday that the Storm-0558 gang specializes in crimes such as data theft and espionage.
The gang went under the radar for nearly a month until customers complained to Microsoft about the unusual email activity. The group had gained access to email accounts affecting approximately 25 companies, including government institutions, and to accounts of individuals associated with these organizations.
“We assess that this adversary is focused on espionage, such as gaining access to email systems for intelligence gathering,” Charlie Bell, Microsoft’s executive vice president of security, stated in a separate Microsoft post.
The breach was caused by hackers who created fake authentication tokens, which are bits of data used to confirm a user’s identity and are required to access email accounts. Microsoft has since addressed the incident and contacted affected customers.
Microsoft said that, among other organizations, it works with the Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to thwart such attacks.
In addition, he stated that he will monitor the operations of Storm-0558.
The Storm-0558 attack is the latest security breach that has been linked to hackers in China.
An email security program with a known security flaw was used by suspected state-backed Chinese hackers to breach the networks of hundreds of public and private sector companies around the world, according to Mandiant, a cybersecurity company owned by of Google.
Microsoft claimed earlier this year that state-sponsored Chinese hackers have been targeting vital US infrastructure and may be setting the technical stage for potential disruption of vital communications between the US and Asia in the event of future crises.
China claims that the United States hacks into the systems of its universities and companies as part of its cyber-espionage campaign against it.
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Categories: Technology
Source: vtt.edu.vn