WASHINGTON: Microsoft has claimed that a Russian sponsored group hacked into its corporate systems on January 12 and also stole some documents and emails from staff accounts, western media reported on Saturday.
The firm said the Russian group was able to access a small percentage of Microsoft corporate email accounts, including members of its top leadership team and staff in its cybersecurity and other functions.
Microsoft’s threat research team regularly probes hackers such who they say is responsible for the acts.
The firm said its investigation into the breach showed the hackers were initially hitting Microsoft to learn what the technology giant knew regarding their operations.
Microsoft Blames Russian Sponsored Hackers Spying on Its executives
The firm added the hackers used a “password spray attack” starting in November last year to breach a Microsoft platform. Hackers also use this technique to infiltrate a firm’s systems by using the same compromised password against several related accounts.
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Reuters reported that the Russian Embassy in the US and Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond over the development.
Microsoft said it probed the incident and disrupted the malicious action, blocking the hackers’ access to its systems.
The company maintained that to date, there is no solid evidence that the threat actors had access to customer environments, source code, production systems, or Artificial Intelligence systems.
Reuters reported that Microsoft products are extensively used across the US government. The firm faced criticism in 2023 for its security practices after hackers stole emails belonging to top US State Department officials.
