Microsoft warns of cyber attack risk

Microsoft has issued an urgent warning about an ongoing cyber attack targeting its internal server-based SharePoint software, a product commonly used by government agencies and businesses to share internal documents.

The cyber attack is currently believed to have not affected servers hosted in the cloud. Photo: Daily Mail

In a warning issued over the weekend, Microsoft noted that SharePoint Online, part of the Microsoft 365 platform, is hosted in the cloud and is therefore not affected by these attacks.

The vulnerability is a “zero‑day” – meaning it is exploited before a patch is available – and allows hackers to spoof, impersonating trusted entities on the network, increasing the risk of sensitive data being leaked. It is estimated that tens of thousands of servers worldwide are at risk.

SharePoint Corporation announced that it has released a security patch for SharePoint Subscription Edition and recommends that customers install it immediately. The company also said it is updating SharePoint 2016 and 2019 versions. Organizations that have not been able to update are advised by Microsoft to disconnect their servers from the internet to reduce risk until a security update is available.

Meanwhile, on July 20, The Washington Post - the first newspaper to report the incident - said that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was aware of the attacks and was working closely with federal and private partners. The newspaper quoted experts as saying that this attack was called a “zero-day” attack because it targeted a previously unknown vulnerability.

KHANH HUNG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/microsoft-canh-bao-nguy-co-tan-cong-mang-post804683.html