European Banking Authority Attacked

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has taken all it’s email systems offline as i its Microsoft Exchange Servers have been hacked by what might be a Chinese state-backed hacking group. 

The EBA isn’t the only organisation under attack, as there is a lot of hacking groups across the world exploiting vulnerabilities to Microsoft's unpatched servers. The Agency has swiftly launched a full investigation, in close co-operation with its ICT provider, a team of forensic experts and other relevant entities.

Microsoft has recently issued emergency patches, but these do not fix systems that have already been attacked. Many of the victims appear to be small or medium-sized businesses although larger groups like the EBA have also been hit.  

The EBA says that access to personal data through emails held on MS Exchange servers may have been obtained by the attacker. It is currently scrambling to identify what, if any, data was accessed.  "The Agency has launched a full investigation, in close cooperation with its ICT provider, a team of forensic experts and other relevant entities," it states. 

"Where appropriate, the EBA will provide information on measures that data subjects might take to mitigate possible adverse effects. As a precautionary measure, the EBA has decided to take its email systems offline."

The EBA claims to be working to identify what, if any, data was accessed. Where appropriate, the EBA will provide information on measures that data subjects might take to mitigate possible adverse effects. In an update on the evolving situation, Microsoft says: "In the attacks observed, the threat actor used these vulnerabilities to access on-premises Exchange servers which enabled access to email accounts, and allowed installation of additional malware to facilitate long-term access to victim environments."

Microsoft has attributed the attack to Hafnium, a state-sponsored hacking group operating out of China. The attack, which Microsoft has said started with a Chinese government-backed hacking group, has so far claimed at least 60,000 known victims globally, according to a former senior US official with knowledge of the investigation. 
Many of them appear to be small or medium-sized businesses although larger groups like the EBA have also been hit.  

EBA:       Finextra:      Telegraph:     EUReporter:   Daily Maverick:       Silicon:    

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