Microsoft says its emails were hacked by Russian-linked hackers

Microsoft Corp. has told more than 12 government agencies and public universities in Texas that hackers linked to Russia had accessed their communications with the company, Bloomberg reports .

Attackers were able to access the communications in a Microsoft hack disclosed in January that gave hackers access to the emails of some of the company's executives, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Microsoft blamed the attack on the hacker group Midnight Blizzard, which is linked to Russian intelligence services. It is also called APT 29 and Cozy Bear.

Steve Pear, a representative of the Texas Cybersecurity Agency, acknowledged that hackers had gained access to correspondence between government agencies and Microsoft, but said that so far they were talking about ordinary administrative letters. According to Kimberly Hubbard, a representative of the Texas agency, the letters that hackers had accessed were mostly related to technical support.

Microsoft, for its part, declined to say which of its customers it had sent notifications about the attack to. “We will continue to coordinate, support, and assist our customers in taking mitigation measures,” a company spokesman said.

Microsoft announced in January that hackers had accessed emails belonging to its top executives. The attackers used them to try to break into the emails of its customers, including government agencies. This week, the company said it has further informed customers that hackers have accessed their emails and has begun providing previously notified customers with details of what was stolen.

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