Latest news with #zeroday
Zawya
3 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Microsoft server hack hit about 100 organizations, researchers say
WASHINGTON/LONDON: A sweeping cyber espionage operation targeting Microsoft server software compromised about 100 organizations as of the weekend, two of the organizations that helped uncover the campaign said on Monday. Microsoft on Saturday issued an alert about "active attacks" on self-hosted SharePoint servers, which are widely used by organizations to share documents and collaborate within organizations. SharePoint instances run off of Microsoft servers were unaffected. Dubbed a "zero-day" because it leverages a previously undisclosed digital weakness, the hacks allow spies to penetrate vulnerable servers and potentially drop a backdoor to secure continuous access to victim organizations. Vaisha Bernard, the chief hacker at Eye Security, a Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm, which discovered the hacking campaign targeting one of its clients on Friday, said that an internet scan carried out with the Shadowserver Foundation had uncovered nearly 100 victims altogether - and that was before the technique behind the hack was widely known. "It's unambiguous," Bernard said. "Who knows what other adversaries have done since to place other backdoors." He declined to identify the affected organizations, saying that the relevant national authorities had been notified. The Shadowserver Foundation confirmed the 100 figure. It said most of those affected were in the United States and Germany, and the victims included government organizations. Another researcher said that, so far, the spying appeared to be the work of a single hacker or set of hackers. "It's possible that this will quickly change," said Rafe Pilling, director of Threat Intelligence at Sophos, a British cybersecurity firm. Microsoft said it had "provided security updates and encourages customers to install them," a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement. It was not clear who was behind the ongoing hack, but Alphabet's Google, which has visibility into wide swaths of internet traffic, said it tied at least some of the hacks to a "China-nexus threat actor." The Chinese Embassy in Washington didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment; Beijing routinely denies carrying out hacking operations. The FBI said on Sunday it was aware of the attacks and was working closely with its federal and private-sector partners, but offered no other details. Britain's National Cyber Security Center said in a statement that it was aware of "a limited number" of targets in the United Kingdom. A researcher tracking the campaign said that the campaign appeared initially aimed at a narrow set of government-related organizations. The pool of potential targets remains vast. According to data from Shodan, a search engine that helps to identify internet-linked equipment, over 8,000 servers online could theoretically have already been compromised by hackers. Shadowserver put the number at a little more than 9,000, while cautioning that the figure was a minimum. Those servers include major industrial firms, banks, auditors, healthcare companies, and several U.S. state-level and international government entities. "The SharePoint incident appears to have created a broad level of compromise across a range of servers globally," said Daniel Card of British cybersecurity consultancy PwnDefend. "Taking an assumed breach approach is wise, and it's also important to understand that just applying the patch isn't all that is required here." (Reporting by James Pearson and Raphael Satter; Editing by Nick Zieminski, Marguerita Choy and Leslie Adler)
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Microsoft cyberattack hits 100 organisations, security firms say
A sweeping cyber espionage operation targeting Microsoft server software has compromised about 100 different organisations over the weekend. Two of the organisations that helped uncover the attack announced their findings on Monday. On Saturday, Microsoft issued an alert about 'active attacks' on self-hosted SharePoint servers, which are widely used by organisations to share documents and collaborate within others. SharePoint instances run off of Microsoft servers were unaffected. Dubbed a 'zero-day' because it leverages a previously undisclosed digital weakness, the hacks allow spies to penetrate vulnerable servers and potentially drop a backdoor to secure continuous access to victim organisations. Vaisha Bernard, the chief hacker at Eye Security, a Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm which discovered the hacking campaign targeting one of its clients on Friday, said that an internet scan carried out with the Shadowserver Foundation had uncovered nearly 100 victims altogether – and that was before the technique behind the hack was widely known. 'It's unambiguous,' Bernard said. 'Who knows what other adversaries have done since to place other backdoors.' He declined to identify the affected organisations, saying that the relevant national authorities had been notified. The Shadowserver Foundation confirmed the 100 figure and said that most of those affected were in the United States and Germany and that the victims included government organisations. Another researcher said that, so far, the spying appeared to be the work of a single hacker or set of hackers. 'It's possible that this will quickly change,' said Rafe Pilling, director of threat intelligence at Sophos, a British cybersecurity firm. A Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed statement that it had 'provided security updates and encourages customers to install them'. It was not clear who was behind the ongoing hack. The FBI said on Sunday it was aware of the attacks and was working closely with its federal and private-sector partners, but offered no other details. Britain's National Cyber Security Centre said in a statement that it was aware of 'a limited number' of targets in the United Kingdom. A researcher tracking the hacks said that the campaign appeared initially aimed at a narrow set of government-related organisations. Potential targets The pool of potential targets remains vast. According to data from Shodan, a search engine that helps to identify internet-linked equipment, more than 8,000 servers online could theoretically have already been compromised by hackers. Those servers include major industrial firms, banks, auditors, healthcare companies and several US state-level and international government entities. 'The SharePoint incident appears to have created a broad level of compromise across a range of servers globally,' said Daniel Card of British cybersecurity consultancy, PwnDefend. 'Taking an assumed breach approach is wise, and it's also important to understand that just applying the patch isn't all that is required here.' On Wall Street, Microsoft's stock is about even with the market open as of 3pm in New York (19:00 GMT), up by only 0.06 percent, and has gone up more than 1.5 percent over the last five days of trading.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Microsoft server hack hit 100 organisations: analysts
A sweeping cyber espionage operation targeting Microsoft server software has compromised about 100 different organisations, two of the groups that helped uncover the campaign say. Microsoft on Saturday issued an alert about "active attacks" on self-hosted SharePoint servers, which are widely used by organisations to share documents and collaborate within organisations. SharePoint instances run off of Microsoft servers were unaffected. Dubbed a "zero-day" because it leverages a previously undisclosed digital weakness, the hacks allow spies to penetrate vulnerable servers and potentially drop a backdoor to secure continuous access to victim organisations. ❗ ALERT ❗ ASD's ACSC is aware of a vulnerability affecting instances of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server products. Organisations should take immediate action 👉 — Australian Signals Directorate (@ASDGovAu) July 20, 2025 Vaisha Bernard, the chief hacker at Eye Security, a Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm, which discovered the hacking campaign targeting one of its clients on Friday, said that an internet scan carried out with the Shadowserver Foundation had uncovered nearly 100 victims altogether - and that was before the technique behind the hack was widely known. "It's unambiguous," Bernard said. "Who knows what other adversaries have done since to place other backdoors." He declined to identify the affected organisations, saying that the relevant national authorities had been notified. The Shadowserver Foundation confirmed the 100 figure and said that most of those affected were in the United States and Germany and that the victims included government organisations. Another researcher said that, so far, the spying appeared to be the work of a single hacker or set of hackers. "It's possible that this will quickly change," said Rafe Pilling, director of Threat Intelligence at Sophos, a British cybersecurity firm. Microsoft said it had "provided security updates and encourages customers to install them," a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement. It was not clear who was behind the ongoing hack. The FBI said on Sunday it was aware of the attacks and was working closely with its federal and private-sector partners but offered no other details. The UK National Cyber Security Centre said in a statement that it was aware of "a limited number" of targets in the United Kingdom. A researcher tracking the campaign said that the campaign appeared initially aimed at a narrow set of government-related organisations. The pool of potential targets remains vast. According to data from Shodan, a search engine that helps to identify internet-linked equipment, more than 8000 servers online could theoretically have already been compromised by hackers. Those servers include major industrial firms, banks, auditors, healthcare companies and several US state-level and international government entities. "The SharePoint incident appears to have created a broad level of compromise across a range of servers globally," Daniel Card of UK cybersecurity consultancy PwnDefend said. "Taking an assumed breach approach is wise, and it's also important to understand that just applying the patch isn't all that is required here."
CNA
4 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Microsoft server hack hit about 100 organizations, researchers say
WASHINGTON/LONDON : A sweeping cyber espionage operation targeting Microsoft server software compromised about 100 different organizations as of the weekend, two of the organizations that helped uncover the campaign said on Monday. Microsoft on Saturday issued an alert about "active attacks" on self-hosted SharePoint servers, which are widely used by organizations to share documents and collaborate within organisations. SharePoint instances run off of Microsoft servers were unaffected. Dubbed a "zero-day" because it leverages a previously undisclosed digital weakness, the hacks allow spies to penetrate vulnerable servers and potentially drop a backdoor to secure continuous access to victim organizations. Vaisha Bernard, the chief hacker at Eye Security, a Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm, which discovered the hacking campaign targeting one of its clients on Friday, said that an internet scan carried out with the Shadowserver Foundation had uncovered nearly 100 victims altogether - and that was before the technique behind the hack was widely known. "It's unambiguous," Bernard said. "Who knows what other adversaries have done since to place other backdoors." He declined to identify the affected organizations, saying that the relevant national authorities had been notified. The Shadowserver Foundation confirmed the 100 figure and said that most of those affected were in the United States and Germany and that the victims included government organizations. Another researcher said that, so far, the spying appeared to be the work of a single hacker or set of hackers. "It's possible that this will quickly change," said Rafe Pilling, director of Threat Intelligence at Sophos, a British cybersecurity firm. Microsoft said it had "provided security updates and encourages customers to install them," a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement. It was not clear who was behind the ongoing hack. The FBI said on Sunday it was aware of the attacks and was working closely with its federal and private-sector partners, but offered no other details. Britain's National Cyber Security Center said in a statement that it was aware of "a limited number" of targets in the United Kingdom. A researcher tracking the campaign said that the campaign appeared initially aimed at a narrow set of government-related organizations. The pool of potential targets remains vast. According to data from Shodan, a search engine that helps to identify internet-linked equipment, over 8,000 servers online could theoretically have already been compromised by hackers. Those servers include major industrial firms, banks, auditors, healthcare companies, and several U.S. state-level and international government entities. "The SharePoint incident appears to have created a broad level of compromise across a range of servers globally," said Daniel Card of British cybersecurity consultancy, PwnDefend.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Microsoft server hack hit about 100 victims, researchers say
The Microsoft company logo is displayed at their offices in Sydney, Australia. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File) WASHINGTON/LONDON — A sweeping cyber espionage operation targeting Microsoft server software compromised about 100 different organizations as of the weekend, two of the organizations that helped uncover the campaign said on Monday. Microsoft on Saturday issued an alert about 'active attacks' on self-managed SharePoint servers, which are widely used by government agencies and businesses to share documents within organizations. Dubbed a 'zero-day' because it leverages a previously undisclosed digital weakness, the hacks allow spies to penetrate vulnerable servers and potentially drop a backdoor to secure continuous access to victim organizations. Vaisha Bernard, the chief hacker at Eye Security, a Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm, which discovered the hacking campaign targeting one of its clients on Friday, said that an internet scan carried out with the Shadowserver Foundation had uncovered nearly 100 victims altogether - and that was before the technique behind the hack was widely known. 'It's unambiguous,' Bernard said. 'Who knows what other adversaries have done since to place other backdoors.' He declined to identify the affected organizations, saying that the relevant national authorities had been notified. The Shadowserver Foundation confirmed the 100 figure and said that most of those affected were in the United States and Germany and that the victims included government organizations. Another researcher said that, so far, the spying appeared to be the work of a single hacker or set of hackers. 'It's possible that this will quickly change,' said Rafe Pilling, director of Threat Intelligence at Sophos, a British cybersecurity firm. Microsoft said it had 'provided security updates and encourages customers to install them,' a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement. It was not clear who was behind the ongoing hack. The FBI said on Sunday it was aware of the attacks and was working closely with its federal and private-sector partners, but offered no other details. Britain's National Cyber Security Center said in a statement that it was aware of 'a limited number' of targets in the United Kingdom. According to data from Shodan, a search engine that helps to identify internet-linked equipment, over 8,000 servers online could theoretically have already been compromised by hackers. Those servers include major industrial firms, banks, auditors, healthcare companies, and several U.S. state-level and international government entities. 'The SharePoint incident appears to have created a broad level of compromise across a range of servers globally,' said Daniel Card of British cybersecurity consultancy, PwnDefend. 'Taking an assumed breach approach is wise, and it's also important to understand that just applying the patch isn't all that is required here.' Reporting by James Pearson and Raphael Satter, Editing by Nick Zieminski and Marguerita Choy.
