It was a hitherto unknown defect. By infiltrating through Microsoft’s email software, Russian hackers gained access to the networks of European organizations. Active in the military, transport or energy fields, these entities only recently learned of this espionage.
Microsoft informed its clients in a report that the American media CNN was able to consult, and discovered by the specialized site BleepingComputer. The IT giant has publicly disclosed vulnerabilities in its Outlook email software, prompting its customers to upgrade.
“Microsoft released a security update…in March to help keep our customers safe and secure,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. According to him, “customers who apply this update or have activated automatic updates are already protected.”
Privately, the company acknowledged that “fewer than 15” organizations were attacked or hacked by Russian hackers, close to the military. However, the attacks took advantage of a security breach in Microsoft software between April and December 2022.
The technique used in the cyberattacks was to send malicious notes and tasks to Outlook. This allowed the theft of the NTLM hash pattern (an encryption protocol). Once recovered, the hackers forced the targeted devices to authenticate to the shared networks they controlled. This gave them access to information.
Cybersecurity experts and US officials explain that the European entities attacked were part of the support of the Ukrainian forces, indicates CNN. According to them, internal networks have been examined for intelligence that could provide both a military advantage, directly on the battlefield, and a geopolitical one.
Source: BFM TV
