Advertising
From Pink Slips to Silent Sidelining: Inside adland’s layoff and anxiety crisis
Microsoft SharePoint flaw exploited in global spy campaign, 400 victims impacted
The espionage campaign began when Microsoft failed to fully patch a known security vulnerability in its SharePoint software.
Opera alleged that Microsoft's pre-installation of Edge as the default browser across Windows computers effectively blocks competitors from a level playing field.
A far-reaching cyber-espionage campaign exploiting unpatched versions of Microsoft SharePoint server software has compromised around 400 organizations globally, researchers at Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm Eye Security revealed, Reuters reported.
The figure marks a dramatic escalation from the 100 victims initially reported just days earlier and is based on forensic evidence - digital artifacts - found during server scans. However, Eye Security warned that the true scale of the breach could be far larger.
"There are many more, because not all attack vectors have left artifacts that we could scan for," Vaisha Bernard, chief hacker at Eye Security told in the report, which was among the first to detect the attacks.
The identities of most victim organizations have not been made public, but a spokesperson for the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) confirmed on Wednesday that one of its servers had been compromised. "Additional servers were isolated for a precaution," the spokesperson said, according to a Washington Post report.
The espionage campaign began when Microsoft failed to fully patch a known security vulnerability in its SharePoint software.
The flaw quickly became a target for threat actors, prompting a race among system administrators to implement fixes before their networks were breached.
According to the report, both Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet have pointed to Chinese state-owned hackers as being among those exploiting the flaw. However, Beijing has denied the allegations.
SPOTLIGHT
From purpose-driven work and narrative-rich brand films to AI-enabled ideas and creator-led collaborations, the awards reflect the full spectrum of modern creativity.
Read More“Confusion creates opportunity for agile players,” Sir Martin Sorrell on industry consolidation
Looking ahead to the close of 2025 and into 2026, Sorrell sees technology platforms as the clear winners. He described them as “nation states in their own right”, with market capitalisations that exceed the GDPs of many countries.