Chinese hackers spied on thousands of companies after breaching IT giant ConnectWise
techcrunch ·
Chinese state-aligned hackers compromised the IT management giant ConnectWise, leading to a massive surveillance operation against thousands of corporate clients. Microsoft security researchers discovered that attackers breached ConnectWise’s cloud backup service to steal application credentials used for data links with customers. These stolen credentials allowed the hackers to impersonate authorized users and access sensitive emails and files within Microsoft-hosted environments. The breach was executed at an unprecedented speed, with approximately 2,250 organizations targeted through nearly 3,000 attempted sign-ins per minute. This rapid intrusion was facilitated by ARTEX, an open-source AI framework designed for stress-testing cyber defenses. In response to the incident, ConnectWise has paused access to its cloud backup system and is currently investigating the scope of the breach while working on service restoration.
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