Russian hackers are targeting US govt officials, defence workers: Microsoft

Microsoft has said the attacks are perpetrated by sophisticated Russian nation-state group Midnight Blizzard, which US and UK governments have connected to SVR, Russian foreign intelligence service

By Katrina Manson

 

Russian hackers are going after US government officials, defense workers and others in a new email phishing campaign targeting thousands of people, according to Microsoft Corp. 

The hackers have sent “a series of highly targeted spearphishing emails” to thousands of people in more than 100 organizations since Oct 22, according to a blog post from Microsoft Threat Intelligence published on Tuesday. 

 

The latest campaign will add to mounting concerns over US failures to outwit suspected Russian and Chinese hackers. The FBI said on Friday it is investigating unauthorized access by Chinese state-affiliated hackers targeting the commercial telecommunications sector. 

 

In some of the emails that were part of the latest campaign, the senders impersonated Microsoft employees, according to the blog. Spearphishing involves sending tailored emails to individuals including links to malicious websites that can then steal information.

 

It wasn’t immediately clear how many of the attacks, if any, were successful.

 

Microsoft has said the attacks are perpetrated by a sophisticated Russian nation-state group it calls Midnight Blizzard, which US and UK governments have connected to the SVR, the Russian foreign intelligence service. 

 

The company said in January that the group attacked its corporate systems, getting into a “small number” of email accounts, including senior leadership and employees who work in cybersecurity and legal.

 

In April, US federal agencies were ordered to analyze emails, reset compromised credentials and work to secure Microsoft accounts. At the time, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the incident represented a “grave and unacceptable risk” to agencies, according to the April directive. 

 

CISA and US State Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The Russian Embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.