July 31, 2024 at 09:03AM
Microsoft admitted that its defensive implementation exacerbated an Azure instability due to a DDoS attack, with an error in defense amplifying the impact. Despite their global defense strategy, the response to the attack did not go well, impacting various services. Microsoft’s responses and reviews are expected in the coming weeks.
Based on the meeting notes:
1. Microsoft has acknowledged that its defensive implementation exacerbated a recent Azure instability, caused by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack which overwhelmed its resources with network traffic.
2. Despite Microsoft’s global expertise and extensive threat network, an error in the implementation of its defenses amplified the impact of the attack rather than mitigating it.
3. The incident, lasting from approximately 1145 UTC to 1943 UTC, primarily impacted services like Azure App Services, Application Insights, Azure IoT Central, Azure Log Search Alerts, Azure Policy, the Azure portal, and a subset of Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview services.
4. Microsoft has yet to respond to inquiries regarding the implementation of its DDoS defenses, but a Preliminary Post Incident Review (PIR) is due in approximately 72 hours.
These clear takeaways can be used for further analysis or action items related to Microsoft’s Defender configuration and the impact of the recent DDoS attack on its services.