14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft revealed that three different midterm candidates were targeted by hackers as part of complex attacks relying on fake Microsoft domains used for phishing.
Tom Burt, corporate vice president for customer security and trust at Microsoft, said at the Aspen Security Forum that the software giant worked together with the US government to block these attacks, explaining that all domains were taken down and malicious attempts were unsuccessful.
“Earlier this year, we did discover that a fake Microsoft domain had been established as the landing page for phishing attacks, and we saw metadata that suggested those phishing attacks were being directed at three candidates who were all standing for election in the midterm elections,” Burt has been quoted as saying.
While no specifics were provided on who may be behind these attacks, the method that Burt described reminds of another wave of attacks discovered in 2016 and also using fake Microsoft domains.
Donald Trump says Russia wasn’t involved in hack attacks
Two years ago, hackers who were part of a group called Strontium, also known as Fancy Bear, targeted the Democratic National Committee. Strontium has often been linked with the Russian government.
US President Donald Trump said after a face-to-talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week that there’s no reason to think that Kremlin tried to interfere with the 2016 US presidential elections.
“As I said today and many times before, 'I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people.' However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past – as the world’s two largest nuclear powers, we must get along!” Donald Trump said in a follow-up tweet.
Microsoft hasn’t provided any details as to the names of the candidates that were targeted by the phishing attacks, but the company says that it’ll continue to monitor possible cyber-intrusion, as it’s believed that further attempts would follow.