Microsoft links ConnectWise backup breach to China-aligned group using AI agents against about 2,250 organizations
Microsoft attributes a breach at ConnectWise to a China state-aligned group it tracks as Storm-0940, and says about 2,250 organizations were affected. The attackers reportedly stole credentials from ConnectWise’s cloud backup service that linked it to customers’ Microsoft environments, then used AI agents to attempt almost 3,000 sign-ins per minute. ConnectWise paused the service and says it is working to restore it.
TechCrunchOriginally published 1 min
Why it matters
The case combines two growing concerns: the compromise of an IT service provider with access to many customers, and attackers using AI agents to act faster than defenders can respond. Microsoft says the speed left little time to detect and react.
According to the report, the agents were built on ARTEX, an open-source framework for stress-testing defenses, which was reportedly also used in a recent compromise of South Korean financial systems. The attribution comes from Microsoft.
For business & IT
If you use ConnectWise or any provider with delegated access to your Microsoft tenant, review and rotate those application credentials, and alert on abnormal sign-in rates, since automated attempts can outpace manual response.
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