Hewlett Packard Enterprise has started informing individuals whose personal data was compromised in a 2023 cyberattack, which the company attributes to hackers associated with the Russian government.
So far, HPE has alerted over a dozen individuals regarding the theft of their data, as reported by TechCrunch’s examination of breach notifications submitted to at least two state attorneys general in the U.S.
The compromised information included Social Security numbers, driver’s license details, and credit card information, as indicated in a filing with the Massachusetts state authorities.
HPE representative Adam R. Bauer has not responded to inquiries regarding the breach.
This incident pertains to an intrusion that began in May 2023, affecting HPE’s email systems and SharePoint platforms—software by Microsoft that allows businesses to create intranet portals. HPE made the incident public in January 2024, confirming that the hackers accessed a “small number” of email mailboxes and certain SharePoint files.
HPE noted that the attackers utilized “a compromised account to infiltrate internal HPE email boxes within our Office 365 email framework.” The company later informed regulators that the majority of the stolen mailbox data belonged to individuals within HPE’s cybersecurity, marketing, and business divisions.
HPE linked the cyberattack to a group identified as Midnight Blizzard, which security analysts believe is tied to Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, the SVR. Midnight Blizzard, also recognized as APT29, has been associated with several notable hacking incidents, including the 2019 SolarWinds espionage campaign aimed at the federal government.
In addition, Microsoft reaffirmed in January 2024 that its corporate network had been breached by Midnight Blizzard. Microsoft stated that the Russian hackers targeted the email accounts of corporate leaders and senior cybersecurity personnel, likely to assess the company’s knowledge about the cybercriminals.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
Fanpage: TechArena.au
Watch more about AI – Artificial Intelligence
