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Microsoft Exchange state-linked hack entirely preventable, cyber review board finds
David Jones / Cybersecurity Dive
April 4, 2024
1 Min Read
Dive Brief:
The state-linked intrusion on Microsoft Exchange Online that led to the theft of about 60,000 U.S. State Department emails last summer “was preventable and should never have occurred”, the Cyber Safety Review Board said Tuesday in a report.
A series of operational and strategic decisions by Microsoft pointed to a corporate culture that deprioritized investments in enterprise security and rigorous risk management, despite the central role the company plays in the larger technology ecosystem, the report said.
The CSRB urged Microsoft to publicly share its plans to make fundamental, security focused reforms across the company and its suite of products. The board also recommended that all cloud services providers and government partners enact security-focused changes.
Dive Insight:
The China-affiliated threat actor Microsoft identifies as Storm-0558 compromised the Microsoft Exchange Online mailboxes of 22 organizations and more than 500 individuals in the attacks, which began in May 2023.
The attacks compromised the individual mailboxes of key U.S. officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China.
The report highlights the need to overhaul not only security practices within Microsoft, but the larger body of cloud services that serve a critical role for companies, government agencies and other organizations across the U.S.
“Cloud computing is some of the most critical infrastructure we have, as it hosts sensitive data and powers business operations across our economy,” Rob Silvers, under secretary of policy at the Department of Homeland Security and chair of the CSRB, said in the announcement. “It is imperative that cloud service providers prioritize security and build it in by design.”
To read the complete article, visit Cybersecurity Dive.
