California, Mar 7 (Agency) A series of recent cyberintrusions on Microsoft email service has breached at least 60,000 companies worldwide affecting the work of small- and medium-sized businesses, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Sunday, citing a former senior US official.
On Tuesday, Microsoft released its emergency security updates saying it had uncovered exploits that a China-based hacking group was able to access email accounts and install malware. In three days since then, reports emerged alleging that some 30,000 organizations in the US were subjected to a cyberattack. According to Bloomberg, citing a customer security firm, Huntress, most of the breached accounts were those of banks and electricity providers, as well as nursing homes. Microsoft noted in its Tuesday blog post that hackers targeted institutions in the United States to obtain information from infectious disease researchers, law firms, universities, defense contractors, think tanks and NGOs. Chinese authorities have asked the media and companies accusing Beijing of cyberattacks to provide evidence instead of baseless accusations.
In the meantime, the US official told the CNN broadcaster that there are an estimated 250,000 affected customers globally, with the numbers expected to increase. The source claimed that the White House was undertaking “a whole of government response to assess and address the impact [of the breach]” that Microsoft claims was conducted by Chinese hackers. There has been no official statement on the matter by Beijing yet.