Microsoft is currently alerting its customers and clients that their emails may have been compromised following reports of Russian hackers spying on the company's emails.
According to a Reuters report, the new details follow the company's ongoing investigations on the safety and security of its customers' data amid threats of major cyberattacks.
The company did not disclose the exact number of customers affected nor the scale of data accessed by the hackers.
The report is part of Microsoft's disclosure on the massive cyberattack last January that resulted to its core software systems, including its source code, being accessed by supposed state-back threat actors.
Microsoft has earlier confirmed that the Russian hackers were able to open government emails from the stolen staff details.
Microsoft Faces Regulatory Scrutiny Amid Series of Cyberattacks
As Reuters noted, the disclosures reflect the regulatory and federal scrutiny of Microsoft amid growing concern about the company's cybersecurity culture.
Earlier this month, Microsoft was grilled during a Senate hearing after an earlier cyberattack last year allowed supposed Chinese state-back hackers access over 60,000 State Department emails.
Before the Senate inquiry, the Cyber Safety Review Board also criticized the world's largest software retailer for allowing "preventable" cyberattacks to affect its operations due to its "inadequate" security culture.
While CEO Satya Nadella promised to put cybersecurity efforts at the company's "No. 1 priority," similar incidents continue to rise as new critical vulnerabilities in its system surface almost every month.
Russian Hackers Continue to Surge as Tensions Run High
Federal scrutiny on its contractors' cybersecurity systems has heightened over the past two years as the country prepares for more cybercrimes from alleged Russian state-backed groups.
Since the US imposed trade sanctions on Russia in 2022 at the start of its war against Ukraine, the countries and its allies have experienced more cyberattacks across major businesses, government units, and affiliated institutions.
Security experts warned that cybercrime groups are becoming braver as they target the country's critical sectors as seen with the data breach with UnitedHealth Group and several financial firms.
The Russian government has not responded to the accusations, although earlier reports indicate that the country is also suffering from more data breaches since 2022.
