China Accuses US of Exploiting Microsoft Flaw for Cyberattacks

China has accused the United States of exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.’s email servers to steal military data and launch cyberattacks against its defense sector.

The Cyber Security Association of China, an entity backed by the Cyberspace Administration of China, stated Friday that U.S. actors were linked to two significant cyberattacks on chinese military companies.The association claims these actors exploited flaws in Microsoft Exchange, gaining control of servers for a key defense sector company for nearly a year.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, has previously attributed major cyberattacks involving its software to China. In 2021, an alleged Chinese operation compromised tens of thousands of Microsoft Exchange servers. In 2023, another alleged Chinese attack on Microsoft Exchange targeted the email accounts of senior U.S. officials. A subsequent U.S. government review criticized Microsoft for a “cascade of security failures” in relation to the 2023 incident. Last month, Microsoft reported that Chinese state-backed hacking groups had exploited vulnerabilities in its SharePoint file-sharing software.

“Every nation state in the world carries out offensive cybersecurity campaigns against others,” said Jon Clay, vice president of threat intelligence at Trend Micro. “I’m assuming at this point, as of the recent SharePoint vulnerability that Microsoft attributed to china, they are coming out and saying, hey, the US has been targeting us with exploits.”

Representatives for the U.S. embassy in Beijing did not promptly respond to requests for comment.

ben Read,director of strategic threat intelligence for Wiz.io, noted in a recent blog post that China is increasingly using “public attribution of cyber activities” as a tactic to pressure Taiwan and influence “the international dialog around cybersecurity.” Earlier this year, China issued several statements alleging cyberattacks originating from Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing considers part of its territory.

In April,China accused three National Security Agency employees of hacking the Asian Winter Games held in Harbin,alleging they targeted systems containing extensive personal information on event participants. while the U.S. has frequently publicized the names of alleged Chinese hackers and filed criminal charges against them, china has historically avoided such disclosures.

What are your thoughts on these accusations? Share your viewpoint in the comments below and subscribe to World Today News for more updates.