April 12, 2024 at 02:25PM
CISA issued an emergency directive in response to a Russian cyber threat targeting Microsoft email accounts. The group, known as Midnight Blizzard, is exfiltrating information and has already affected several companies. The directive requires federal agencies to investigate, reset compromised credentials, and secure privileged accounts. All organizations are urged to enhance their security measures.
Key Takeaways from the Meeting Notes:
1. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an emergency directive in response to a Russian state-sponsored threat actor, Midnight Blizzard, targeting Microsoft email accounts.
2. Midnight Blizzard is exfiltrating information from Microsoft corporate email systems to gain access to Microsoft customer systems, with over 120 attacks observed by Trellix in the first quarter of the year.
3. CISA’s directive initially applied to Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies, requiring them to observe and analyze Microsoft email accounts for impact, reset compromised credentials, and secure privileged Microsoft Azure accounts.
4. CISA encourages all organizations to apply stringent security measures, including strong passwords, multifactor authentication (MFA), and avoiding sharing unprotected sensitive information via unsecure channels.
5. CISA’s director, Jen Easterly, emphasized that the emergency directive aims to ensure the secure networks and systems of federal civilian agencies, highlighting this as part of a pattern of malicious cyber activity from Russia.