This story is currently available in Englisch only — a translation isn't ready yet.
Microsoft: Chinese spy group used AI to breach hundreds of organizations in hours
The group known as 'Storm-0940' completed some operations from initial target identification to privileged access in less than three hours, and Microsoft holds it responsible for the ConnectWise supply chain breach.
Microsoft's Security and Intelligence Research team revealed that a cyber-espionage group linked to the Chinese government, identified as 'Storm-0940,' deployed an AI-powered penetration testing framework called 'ARTEX' to launch automated attacks against hundreds of organizations across multiple sectors during September.
Microsoft reported that attackers in many cases obtained privileged access to the cloud infrastructure of targeted organizations. Most alarmingly, some operations took less than three hours from initial reconnaissance to system compromise.
Microsoft indicated that it assesses 'Storm-0940' as the group responsible for the ConnectWise supply chain breach recently disclosed. ConnectWise announced on October 16 that it was investigating unauthorized access attempts linked to its ConnectWise Cloud Backup environment.
Targeted sectors included: aviation and defense, automotive, chemicals, energy, financial services, government, legal, manufacturing, media, military organizations, semiconductor companies, software, technology, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations.
Sources — how we know this
- PrimaryHabertürk