(Dailydig.com) – During its hearing on June 13, the Big Tech Microsoft company faced intense criticism from the Homeland Security Committee in the House. The company’s attempt to defend itself was significant, given that China and Russia had launched an attack on US government clients in 2023.
As the scrutiny increased, the criticism from the House members was stinging. The meeting’s report revealed that the government, not Microsoft, discovered the hacks. The report highlighted mistakes that could have been prevented, criticizing Microsoft for its inadequate security measures, and recommended a comprehensive overhaul to better handle future attacks.
Microsoft reported that hackers from both countries, US adversaries, may be collaborating on cyberattacks. They also stated that they fear the two nations may also work with North Korea and Iran, as possibilities present for such a collaboration.
Microsoft’s President, Brad Smith, informed the lawmakers that the company’s network and its employees experienced nearly 50 million phishing raids in 2023. Phishing is the act of emailing someone supposedly from a legitimate organization, with the intention of eliciting classified information.
Smith released his testimony, which explained to the House panel that both China and Russia are firmly affiliated with North Korea and Iran. He estimated that the real partnership with these four countries may very well broaden their goals as they move into war in cyberspace.
Cyber combat with individual nations is one thing, but the combination of two or more working together is a serious escalation to a dangerous level, according to Smith. The grave danger escalates significantly, both in terms of numbers and the nature of the attack.
In the House meeting, Microsoft told the panel that both China and Russia’s sophistication in software engineering is more than capable of being a resource when machine learning is involved. As a combined force, their skills will become gravely treacherous to the US.
Smith added that Microsoft had detected cyberattacks on a daily basis against customers in the 345 million range in 2023. Some of the attacks exposed the communications of highly sensitive officials in the US government.
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