Cybersecurity
Hackers Rushed in as Microsoft Raced to Avert Cyber-Attack
- U.S. president briefed as crisis around Exchange bugs mounts
- Company investigates possible leak during patching process
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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It was late February, and Microsoft Corp. engineers had been working for weeks on a handful of alarming weaknesses in the company’s popular Exchange email service. They were rushing to send out a fix, targeting the second Tuesday of March -- part of a monthly ritual known in cybersecurity circles as “patch Tuesday.”
The hackers got a head start. Following weeks of discreet attacks, Chinese hackers shifted into high gear. The result was a sprawling campaign that engulfed thousands of organizations in a matter of days.