Microsoft Says Russian Hackers Stole Code After Spying On Top Executives: Attack Still ‘Ongoing

The Windows maker revealed that the attack is still “ongoing.”

What Happened: Microsoft disclosed that Russian state-sponsored hackers, known as Nobelium or “Midnight Blizzard,” had been spying on the email accounts of some of its senior leadership team.

The same group that was behind the SolarWinds attack is now responsible for stealing some of Microsoft’s source code in what the company describes as an ongoing attack.

“In recent weeks, we have seen evidence that Midnight Blizzard [Nobelium] is using information initially exfiltrated from our corporate email systems to gain, or attempt to gain, unauthorized access.”

This included access to some of Microsoft’s source code repositories and internal systems. However, no evidence has been found to suggest that Microsoft-hosted customer-facing systems have been compromised.

The company warns that the Nobelium group is now attempting to use “secrets of different types it has found” further to breach the software giant and potentially its customers.

Microsoft is contacting customers who may be affected to assist them in taking mitigating measures.

The attack on Microsoft initially took place just days after the company announced its plan to overhaul its software security following serious Azure cloud attacks.

Microsoft says it is still investigating Nobelium’s latest attacks on its systems.

Why It Matters: In January, the email accounts of Microsoft’s top executives were breached by the same Russian intelligence group. The company had assured them that there was no impact on customer data.

The Nobelium group was also responsible for the 2020 SolarWinds breach, which was one of the worst cyberattacks on U.S. agencies and major U.S. companies.