Chinese-Linked Hackers Compromise ConnectWise, Target Hundreds in Global Attack, Microsoft Says
Microsoft said the campaign hit 2,250 tenants and produced more than 151,000 failed logins before ConnectWise began restoring services.
- On Wednesday, Microsoft reported that Chinese-linked hacking group Storm-0940 compromised ConnectWise Cloud Backup using ARTEX, an AI-driven penetration testing framework, targeting hundreds of organizations globally.
- The ARTEX framework allows attackers to automate penetration testing tasks including reconnaissance and data exfiltration with minimal human interaction, capabilities Microsoft Threat Intelligence noted are accelerating attack tempos across multiple threat actors.
- Microsoft observed more than 151,000 failed logon attempts during the campaign, peaking at 2,900 failures per minute, while Storm-0940 used ARTEX to reach more than 2,250 tenants at a pace leaving defenders minimal time to respond.
- ConnectWise temporarily shut down services Saturday following the attacks and began restoring services in phases Wednesday, though the company did not respond to Microsoft's conclusions about Storm-0940's involvement.
- Igor Tsyganskiy, executive vice president at Microsoft, stated the ConnectWise attack is "one of many" AI-driven incidents, while the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment as Beijing regularly denies cyber-enabled data theft.
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Microsoft pins ConnectWise supply-chain attack to China-state aligned threat group
Storm-0940 used the agentic AI penetration testing framework to automate attacks and “reach more than 2,250 tenants at 2,900 sign-in attempts per minute,” Microsoft researchers said.
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Chinese-linked hackers compromise ConnectWise, target hundreds in global attack, Microsoft says
Oct 21 : A Chinese-linked hacking group used an AI-driven penetration testing tool to compromise IT services firm ConnectWise as part of a campaign that targeted hundreds of organizations globally, Microsoft said on Wednesday.ConnectWise did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Microsoft's conc
Microsoft reported that the China-linked Storm-0940 malware targeted hundreds of organizations in September using AI-powered ARTEX. Many of the attacks involved gaining privileged access to cloud infrastructure; in some cases, the process took less than three hours.
Chinese-linked hackers compromise ConnectWise, target hundreds in global attack, Microsoft says | #hacking | #cybersecurity | #infosec | #comptia | #pentest | #hacker - National Cyber Security Consulting
Oct 21 (Reuters) – A Chinese-linked hacking group used an AI-driven penetration testing tool to compromise IT services firm ConnectWise as part of a campaign that targeted hundreds of organizations globally, Microsoft said on Wednesday.ConnectWise did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Microsoft’s conclusions, although a statement posted to the company’s website […] Thank you for subscribing to our RSS feed!
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