Microsoft and US officials announced on Wednesday that Chinese government-affiliated hackers have been conducting a covert cyberespionage campaign since May and have accessed the email accounts of approximately 25 organizations, including accounts belonging to the United States government.
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Jake Sullivan, a national security adviser for the White House, gave an interview to the ABC show “Good Morning America” in which he stated that the United States was able to detect a hack of federal government accounts “fairly rapidly” and prevent other breaches from occurring.
One of the affected government agencies was the United States Department of State, according to a person who was acquainted with the inquiry and spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss it.
According to a statement released by the company, Chinese hackers gang, which Microsoft has given the name Storm-0558, used counterfeit digital authentication tokens and accessed US webmail accounts that were hosted on the Outlook service of the company. Microsoft has stated that the activity started in May.Microsoft did not say which organizations or governments had been affected, but added that the hacking group involved primarily targets entities in Western Europe.
China’s embassy in London called the accusation “disinformation” and called the U.S. government “the world’s biggest hacking empire and global cyber thief.” China routinely denies involvement in hacking operations regardless of the available evidence or context.
White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said an intrusion in Microsoft’s cloud security “affected unclassified systems,” without elaborating.
“Officials immediately contacted Microsoft to find the source and vulnerability in their cloud service,” Hodge added.
The State Department “detected anomalous activity” and “took immediate steps to secure our systems,” a department spokesperson said in a statement.
Private sector cybersecurity experts have said newly discovered hacking activity shows how Chinese groups are improving their cyber capabilities.
“Chinese cyber espionage has come a long way from the smash-and-grab tactics many of us are familiar with,” said John Hultquist, chief analyst for U.S. cybersecurity firm Mandiant.
“As with any observed nation-state actor activity, Microsoft has contacted all targeted or compromised organizations directly via their tenant admins and provided them with important information that will help them investigate and respond,” the firm said in a statement.
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Microsoft did not identify the affected firms or countries, although the company did note that the hacker gang in question predominantly targets entities located in Western Europe.
The Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom referred to the allegation as “disinformation” and referred to the United States government as “the world’s biggest hacking empire and global cyber thief.” It is standard practice for China to deny any involvement in cyber operations, regardless of the proof that is presented or the surrounding circumstances.
Adam Hodge, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, stated that an intrusion in Microsoft’s cloud security “affected unclassified systems,” but he did not provide any further details.
“Officials immediately contacted Microsoft to find the source and vulnerability in their cloud service,” Hodge explained further.
A representative for the State Department stated in a statement that the agency “detected anomalous activity” and “took immediate steps to secure our systems.”
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According to newly uncovered hacking activities, experts in cybersecurity from the private sector have stated that the behavior illustrates how Chinese entities are increasing their cyber skills.
“Chinese cyber espionage has come a long way from the smash-and-grab tactics that many of us are familiar with,” said John Hultquist, chief analyst for the United States-based cybersecurity firm Mandiant.
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