Microsoft warns of cyberattacks after recent experience with one

SALT LAKE CITY — Microsoft is warning about the dangers of cyberattacks after falling victim to one by a group of hackers known as Storm-19-77.

According to Forbes, the group accessed Microsoft using a brute-force attack known as a password spraying attack.

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Brandon Amacher, director of the Emerging Tech Policy Lab and a professor at the Center for National Security Studies at Utah Valley University, described the process as a thief checking every single door in a neighborhood for one that’s unlocked.

“A password spraying attack is essentially when an attacker is trying to use common passwords or passwords that they have gotten from a breached data set across multiple accounts in order to just, essentially, see where or if they can get in.”

Amacher said these are not necessarily sophisticated attacks but they are very common.

“It’s a pretty low and kind of slow technique … It’s exploiting the fact that a lot of people still use default or weak passwords on their accounts,” Amacher said. “I think the reason why this particular story is significant or is perhaps a little bit different is because it’s not just this methodology, right? It’s also that there is a vulnerability in Microsoft infrastructure, which is making this technique more effective than it otherwise would be.”

Amacher said there are several ways to prevent being targeted by password spraying attacks.

“Don’t be the house with the unlocked door. And, in that case, what that translates to is keep your software updated, follow best practices, you know, don’t have simple passwords, and enable multi-factor authentication. That in most cases is enough of a deterrent to keep you safe from a lot of low-level cybercrime.”

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