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Microsoft said US companies and government agencies that use the company’s email service were engaged in a violent hacking campaign that “was probably sponsored by the Chinese government.”
The attack, which Microsoft said began with a Chinese government-backed hacking group, has so far infiltrated at least 60,000 known victims around the world, according to a former senior US official familiar with the investigation.
The official noted, according to Bloomberg, that many of the breach victims are small or medium-sized businesses caught in a vast network used by attackers while Microsoft works to stop the penetration.
An American cybersecurity company, which asked not to be identified, said its experts alone were working with at least 50 victims, trying to quickly identify the data that hackers might have taken while trying to remove them.
The rapidly escalating attack alarmed US national security officials, in part because hackers managed to infect so many victims so quickly.
In the final stages of the attack, the researchers say, the hackers appeared to have completed the operation, racking up tens of thousands of new victims worldwide in a few days.
The US government’s Cybersecurity Agency issued an emergency warning Wednesday, amid concerns that the hacking campaign has hit a host of targets. The warning urged federal agencies to correct their systems immediately, according to the US “New York Times.”
“We are concerned about the presence of a large number of victims,” White House spokeswoman Jane Psaki said during a press conference on Friday, adding that the attack “could have far-reaching effects.”
“We promise a full government response to assess and address the impact,” Bloomberg said, quoting a White House official, “This is an active threat that continues to evolve and we urge network operators to take it seriously.” .
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