MICROSOFT DECLARES THAT CHINA

HACKED HIS SERVER PROGRAM

EXCHANGE MESSAGING

All federal government agencies have until Friday March 5 at noon to download the latest software update to block the attacker!

Microsoft has said that a group of hackers who work for the Chinese government are found to be the perpetrator and that the latter mainly spies on US targets.

The latest software update for Exchange blocks hackers, prompting the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to issue a rare emergency directive that forces all government networks to do so.

CISA, the leading defensive cybersecurity agency in the United States, rarely exercises its authority to ask the entire US government to take protective measures to protect its cybersecurity.

The move was necessary, the agency said, because Exchange hackers are able "to gain permanent access to the system."

Additionally, Microsoft Vice President Tom Burt wrote that hackers recently spied on a wide range of US targets, including disease researchers, law firms and defense contractors.

Contacted by email, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington referred to recent comments by spokesman Wang Wenbin.

"China has repeatedly reiterated that given the virtual nature of cyberspace and the fact that there are all kinds of actors online that are difficult to trace, pinpointing the source of cyber attacks is a complex technical issue," Wang said. .

"We hope that the media and businesses concerned will adopt a professional and responsible attitude and stress the importance of having sufficient evidence when identifying incidents of cybercrime, rather than making baseless accusations."

We remember that recently the Navajo Nation Hospital was the victim of a brutal wave of ransomware attacks.

There is no immediate indication that the hack led to significant exploitation of US government computer networks. But the announcement marks the second time in recent months that the United States has rushed to tackle a widespread hacking campaign seen as the work of foreign government spies.

The United States is still assessing the damage after suspected Russian hackers broke into a software management company, SolarWinds, and used the breach to stage hacks that hit nine federal agencies and about 100 private companies, according to White House comments.

As the developer of the world's most popular Windows operating system, Microsoft is regarded by Western cybersecurity experts as having exceptional insight into global hacking campaigns.

The campaign not only allowed hackers to access victims' emails and calendar invitations, but their entire network, Microsoft said. The hackers used four separate zero-day exploits, which are rare digital tools that get their name from the fact that software developers don't know about them, leaving them with no time to prepare a fix.

ESET, a Slovak cybersecurity company, said on Twitter that its researchers saw several groups of hackers, not just the one Microsoft named in its announcement.

Hackers would also exploit some vulnerabilities in older versions of Exchange.