Main points:
– China-based threat actor known as Storm-0558 acquired an inactive consumer signing key, compromising Microsoft’s system.
– The compromise allowed Storm-0558 to access debugging environment containing a crash dump from April 2021.
– The attack was facilitated by the compromise of a Microsoft engineer’s corporate account.
– The hacking incident reveals fence holes in Microsoft’s cybersecurity protocols.
In a scene that would make even the sneakiest cat burglar proud, Microsoft announced that a China-based threat actor, known as Storm-0558, got its virtual mitts on an inactive consumer signing key. Apparently, the heist was as simple as compromising an engineer’s corporate account – no laser beam security systems, no state-of-the-art biometric scans, just good old-fashioned hacking.
By obtaining this key, Storm-0558 triggered the sequel of “Operate and Access: Debugging Protocol”. The actor gained access to a debugging environment that housed a crash dump of Microsoft’s consumer signing system, which took place in April 2021. The crash dump is like the rulebook for the system, so running off with it gives the adversary a pretty good peek into the system’s inner workings. The rulebook won’t include the answers to the test, but it sure will help them study for it.
The badge of honor – or rather the badge of “this-one-slipped-past-us”, goes to Microsoft. The compromise of the engineer’s corporate account that facilitated these shenanigans highlights some stark vulnerabilities in the tech giant’s cybersecurity protocols. It wasn’t a bulldozer storming through the gate, but a stealthy fox, underlining that sometimes, the real threat isn’t the size of the security breach, but the silence of it.
Microsoft recently disclosed a security breach where China-based threat actor Storm-0558 managed to abscond with an inactive consumer signing key after compromising an engineer’s corporate account. The key gave the attacker access to a valuable crash dump of Microsoft’s consumer signing system from April 2021. This incident provides a wake-up call for the tech giant, as it draws attention to gaps in their cybersecurity protocols. Remember, sometimes it’s not the size of the breach that threatens security, but the silence with which it arrives – kind of like an unplanned Windows update!
Original Article: https://thehackernews.com/2023/09/outlook-breach-microsoft-reveals-how.html
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