White House urges action after hacking Microsoft email

The White House on Sunday urged computer network operators to take further steps to tell if their systems were targeted amid a hack of Microsoft’s Outlook email program, recently stating that software patches are still serious vulnerabilities Huh.

“This is still a developmentally active threat and we urge network operators to take it seriously,” said a White House official.

CNN reported separately on Sunday that the Biden administration was forming a task force to address the hack. A White House official said in a statement that the administration is “fully reacting to the government”.

While Microsoft last week released a patch to plug in its email software, the measure still leaves a so-called back door open that could allow access to compromised servers and by others May eliminate further attacks.

A White House official said, “We cannot stress that there is no patching and nutrition remediation if the server is already compromised, and it is imperative that any organization with a weak server determine this Measure for whether they were already targeted. “

Already, a source reported that Reuters had compromised the hack to more than 20,000 US organizations, which Microsoft has accused China of, although Beijing denies any role.

Back channels for remote access could affect credit unions, city governments and small business, and have left American officials to reach out to victims, with the FBI on Sunday urging them to contact a law enforcement agency.

Those affected appear to host web versions of Microsoft’s e-mail program Outlook on their machines rather than cloud providers, possibly sparing many major companies and federal government agencies, records from investigative suggestions.

A Microsoft representative said it was working with the government and others to help guide customers, and the company urged affected customers to implement software updates as soon as possible.

Neither the company nor the White House specified the scale of the hack. Microsoft initially said it was limited, but last week the White House expressed concern about the potential for “a large number of victims”.

So far, only a small percentage of infected networks have been compromised through backdoor, the source previously told Reuters, but more attacks are expected.