In a terrible week for the field of cybersecurity, thousands more companies have been affected. Previously, IT, a giant in management and remote access, and ConnectWise were compromised, and subsequently these companies came under surveillance by Chinese hackers.

Microsoft's security researchers stated that hackers affiliated with the Chinese state infiltrated the cloud backup service of ConnectWise and stole application credentials. These credentials are used to establish data connections between ConnectWise and its corporate clients, who rely on this cloud service to back up their company data.

By stealing these credentials, hackers can log into customers' Microsoft-hosted environments just like authorized users and access their emails and other files.

Microsoft stated that hackers used AI proxies to rapidly invade approximately 2,250 organizations at a rate of nearly 3,000 login attempts per minute. Microsoft said that this speed left defenders with "almost no time to detect and respond."

The speed of this large-scale invasion is attributed to the use of AI proxies, specifically ARTEX – an open-source AI framework that can be used in conjunction with AI models to conduct stress tests on network defenses. Microsoft stated that the same AI software was recently used to invade South Korean financial systems, many of which have weaker security measures and lack multi-factor authentication.

ConnectWise indicates that access to their cloud backup system has been suspended, and an investigation into this intrusion is underway. As of Thursday, the company stated that they are working to restore this service.