Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) released a report on Tuesday saying that a hacker group believed to be Russian took advantage of a security flaw in Windows.
The hackers have been linked to the breach into the computer systems belonging to the Democratic National Committee. The hackers are believed to have ties with the Russian government. A software developer stated on Microsoft’s website that there had been a few minor hacks that involved “spear phishing” emails. These attacks were carried out by hackers that call themselves Strontium. The group of hackers also carries the title, “Fancy Bear” and are also known as APT 28.
The claim that the hackers are of Russian origin also comes a short time after Russia was accused of launching a hack with the aim of disrupting the US elections. The US government believes that the Russian government was behind the hacking of emails belonging to the Democratic Party which were later leaked by WikiLeaks and a few other organizations. The Russian government has denied the claims that it was involved in the hacking.
Microsoft announced that it will release a patch to eliminate the vulnerabilities on November 7. The usual fashion to handle such matters is to prepare the patch and release it along with the news of the flaw. However, the Windows flaw was discovered and publicly announced by engineers from Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) subsidiary Google. The later received criticism from Microsoft for publicly releasing the news before the availability of a patch.
“This attack campaign, originally identified by Google’s Threat Analysis Group, used two zero-day vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash and the down-level Windows kernel to target a specific set of customers,”stated Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s executive VP for Windows and devices.
Myerson further revealed that the hackers would prey on unsuspecting victims by sending compromised email messages to email contacts. He also stated that Microsoft is building up a stronger defense against Strontium and any other malicious hackers.
Microsoft stock closed the latest trading session at $59.80.
