Emergency alert issued in US after Chinese cyberattack on Microsoft

Washington/Beijing: – Following a cyberattack launched by the Chinese hackers on the leading IT company Microsoft, the US Administration has issued an emergency alert. Under this, all the government departments have been ordered to evaluate the safety of their computer networks. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki warned that the new cyberattack was an active threat. It is claimed that the Chinese cyberattack has hit nearly 30,000 enterprises.

Microsoft, the leading IT company, had announced that there had been a major cyberattack on its networks in the last week. The company said in its statement that Hafnium, the hacker group, with the support of the communist Chinese government, carried out the attack. The company clarified that the attack targeted the Exchange Server used by Microsoft for its email services.

This is the second major cyberattack of the year, targeting the computer networks linked with the government departments. Last year, it was exposed that many important government departments had been targeted in the cyberattack carried out on the software company networks, SolarWinds. It had also been exposed that even the Microsoft networks had been targeted during that attack. The former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, along with intelligence and investigation agencies, had said that there was a Russian hand in the attack.

A second major attack following the Russian cyberattack and the involvement of Chinese hackers in it becomes a significant development. China has targeted the US agencies and industries consistently over the last decade, and the incidence had increased during the tenure of former President Barack Obama. Obama even signed an agreement with China to stop the increasing cyberattacks. But China continued with the policy of carrying out cyberattacks, and this cyberattack seems to be a part of the same policy.

It is said that commotion broke out at the US defence department following the cyberattack on Microsoft. The US defence headquarters, the Pentagon, has ordered checking the security of the entire computer network. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has issued an emergency alert. Under this alert, all government departments have been ordered to check the security of their computer networks.

US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, has also taken serious cognisance of the cyberattacks and has warned that many think tanks, voluntary organisations, and companies from the defence sector may be hit in the United States. US cyber analyst, Brian Krebs, claimed that various agencies in cities and networks of the local administrations had been targeted in the cyberattack along with many small businesses. Krebs said that taking advantage of this attack by the Chinese hackers, other hacker groups are also carrying out attacks.