The devastating cyberattack on several U.S. government agencies also affected targets around the world, and as the list of victims continues to grow, investigators say fears about cybersecurity and espionage are soaring.
Microsoft said on Thursday that it had notified more than 40 customers affected by these malicious programs, which according to security experts would come from hackers related to the Russian government and allowed attackers unrestricted access to their networks.
seven countries
“Although about 80% of these customers are located in the United States, the work has so far identified victims from seven other countries,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said on his blog.
Smith explained that there are victims in Belgium, Canada, Israel, Mexico, Spain and the United Arab Emirates as well.
“It is certain that the number and location of the victims will continue to grow,” Smith acknowledged, joining the warnings already expressed by U.S. officials about the seriousness of the attack.
“This is not‘ espionage as usual ’, even in the digital age,” the Microsoft president assessed.
“Instead, it evidences an act of recklessness that created a serious technological vulnerability for the United States and the world.”
John Dickson, of security firm Denim Group, said several private sector companies that could be vulnerable are now struggling to bolster their security, to the point of even considering rebuilding their servers and other equipment.
“Everyone is doing damage assessment now because that’s huge,” Dickson said. “It’s a blow to confidence in both government and critical infrastructure.”
The threat comes from a long-running attack that is believed to have injected malicious programs into computer networks that used business management software created by Texas-based technology company SolarWinds, and would have the seal of a national attack.
DETAILS
Malicious software.
The hackers allegedly installed their malware in programs used by the Treasury and Commerce Department, which allowed them to see internal email traffic.
Departments.
Hackers allegedly installed their malware in programs used by the Treasury and Commerce Departments