The group behind SolarWinds Cyber attack is now targeting 150 government and NGO sites, says microsoft

Photo: blogs.microsoft.com

Software giant Microsoft says it has discovered that the group behind SolarWinds cyber attack identified late last year is now targeting some 150 government agencies think tanks, consultants, and non-governmental organizations.

In a blog post posted on Thursday, Microsoft said, “This week we observed cyber attacks by the threat actor Nobelium targeting government agencies, think tanks, consultants, and non-governmental organizations.”

Microsft has dubbed the attackers as Nobelim behind the radioactive element that was originated from Russia. The company claims that the group is the same which conducted the SolarWinds cyber-attack of 2020.

“This wave of attacks targeted approximately 3000 email accounts at more than 150 different organizations,” Microsoft said.

While organizations in the United States received the largest share of attacks, Microsoft said targeted victims came from at least 24 countries, the company claims.

At least a quarter of the targeted organizations were involved in international development, humanitarian issues, and human rights work.

Nobelium launched this week’s attacks by breaking into an email marketing account used by the US Agency For International Development and from there launching phishing attacks on many other organizations, Microsoft said.

 

Publish : 2021-05-28 15:36:00

Give Your Comments