30,000 Microsoft Exchange Accounts Hacked, Company Blames Chinese Government.

Over Thirty thousand Microsoft accounts from different Businesses and Government agencies have been compromised due to a hacking campaign that Microsoft claims was sponsored by the Chinese Government. The Hack was first found in January and has escalated to become a bigger issue in the past few weeks. Of the customers that have been hacked, the main users are small businesses, local and state governments,  as well as military contractors. Confidential emails were stolen, and malware. Volexity investigated the issue when it was first found in January and discovered that the hackers used a bug that could bypass passwords in order to infiltrate email accounts. While Microsoft blames China, China’s spokesman from their Ministry of Foreign affairs has stated that Cyber attacks are “complex issues”, and it is a “highly sensitive political issue to pin the label of cyberattacks to a certain government. With this being said, it is key to make sure your passwords are as strong as they can be and to also use 2-factor authentication when possible for certain accounts.

Sources:

Kate Conger and Sheera Frenkel, The New York Times

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