The Biden administration has blamed China for a hack of Microsoft Exchange email server software

The hack compromised tens of thousands of computers around the world earlier this year. The administration and allied nations have also disclosed a broad range of other cyberthreats from Beijing.

Of those threats includes ransomware attacks from government-affiliated hackers that have targeted companies with demands for millions of dollars.

According to a senior Biden administration official, hackers affiliated with China’s Ministry of State Security conducted the operation, which took advantage of security flaws in Microsoft Exchange Server software – or Microsoft’s email software. 

The Microsoft attack was so widespread that at the time of the incident, the White House’s National Security Council was forced to implement an emergency response group to address the offense.

The U.S. and allies plan to lay out how China’s Ministry of State Security has been hiring criminal hackers on a contractual basis to conduct Beijing’s hacking operations, according to the official.

Leading authorities including the National Security Agency, FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity agency have spent months warning organisations about the Microsoft Exchange Server hacking, however, this is the first time the US government is formally attributing the campaign to the Chinese government.