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On Friday, Microsoft disclosed that the hacking group it calls Midnight Blizzard, also known as APT29<\/a> \u2014 and widely believed to be sponsored by the Russian government \u2014 hacked some corporate email accounts, including those of the company\u2019s \u201csenior leadership team and employees in our cybersecurity, legal, and other functions.\u201d<\/p>\n Curiously, the hackers didn\u2019t go after customer data or the traditional corporate information they may have normally gone after. They wanted to know more about themselves, or more specifically, they wanted to know what Microsoft knows about them, according to the company.<\/p>\n \t\tDo you have more information about this hack? We\u2019d love to hear from you. From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or email lorenzo@techcrunch.com. You also can contact TechCrunch via SecureDrop.\t<\/p>\n \u201cThe investigation indicates they were initially targeting email accounts for information related to Midnight Blizzard itself,\u201d the company wrote in a blog post<\/a> and SEC disclosure<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to Microsoft, the hackers used a \u201cpassword spray attack\u201d \u2014 essentially brute forcing \u2014 against a legacy account, then used that account\u2019s permissions to \u201cto access a very small percentage of Microsoft corporate email accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n Microsoft did not disclose how many email accounts were breached, nor exactly what information the hackers accessed or stole.<\/p>\n Company spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Microsoft took advantage of news of this hack to talk about how they are going to move forward to make itself more secure.<\/p>\n \u201cFor Microsoft, this incident has highlighted the urgent need to move even faster. We will act immediately to apply our current security standards to Microsoft-owned legacy systems and internal business processes, even when these changes might cause disruption to existing business processes,\u201d the company wrote. \u201cThis will likely cause some level of disruption while we adapt to this new reality, but this is a necessary step, and only the first of several we will be taking to embrace this philosophy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nContact Us<\/h4>\n