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Microsoft hack heralds new era of mass-scale cyberwar

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Last week’s discovery of a massive new cyberattack that targeted flaws in Microsoft’s Exchange Server indicates the world has entered into the age of mass-scale cyberwar, Axios reports. The Microsoft hack affected some 30,000 small businesses and organizations in the US and many more globally, and follows the SolarWinds massive hack in December.

In its analysis, Axios notes that, until recently, state-backed hacking operations have been quite narrow in their reach. Now it appears that nation-state cyber fighting is affecting record numbers of companies, organizations, and individuals.

Widely attributed to a Russian-backed group, the SolarWinds attack compromised the networks of several US government departments and some 18,000 companies and institutions, Axios reports.

Microsoft has reportedly attributed the new attack to the Chinese government. Other experts are reported to believe that a China-back group started the Exchange hack, and was joined by other groups. By way of damage control, last week Microsoft produced a patch for customers to install in order to prevent further attacks. However, the patch will not close back doors installed by the hackers.

The Biden administration is reportedly considering sanctions as punishment for Russia’s action in the SolarWinds hack and may consider the same for China’s involvement in the Microsoft attack. However, Axios notes that: ”We may never know exactly who is to blame, who was targeted, and who got caught in the crossfire.”