- Published
- Source
- CSO Online UK
- Filed under
- Nation-state, Microsoft, AI attacks
A China-state-aligned threat actor compromised a ConnectWise cloud backup application and used an open-source agentic AI framework to turn its stolen credentials against more than 2,250 Microsoft 365 tenants, Microsoft said. Microsoft Threat Intelligence attributed the activity to Storm-0940, which it said has used the ARTEX framework since as early as September 2026 to automate attacks on hundreds of organizations. In some cases, the group gained privileged cloud access less than three hours after first targeting a victim. Microsoft said…
Practical steps for any organisation
- Patch quickly, starting with anything facing the internet.
- Use multi-factor authentication everywhere it is offered.
- Keep tested, offline backups – and a plan for the day you need them.
More helpNCSC: 10 Steps to Cyber Security (opens in a new tab)NCSC: incident management (opens in a new tab)
Defender’s notebook
The attacker technique behind this story, in MITRE’s terms – and what to check in your own estate.
Valid Accounts
Stealth, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, Initial AccessWhat a defender checks
- Review risky sign-ins: impossible travel, new devices, unusual locations.
- Reset credentials and revoke sessions for affected accounts.
- Put phishing-resistant MFA on admin accounts first.
Build the skillBlue Team Analyst · Identity & Access Monitoring
© 2026 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation. MITRE ATT&CK and ATT&CK are registered trademarks of The MITRE Corporation.
MyCyberWay training
Microsoft SC-200 exam training
Defender and Sentinel in the headlines? That's the SC-200 toolkit.
Tutor-led SC-200 preparation: running security operations in Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR, responding to incidents across identity, endpoint, email and cloud, and threat hunting with KQL.
- Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR
- Incident response across Microsoft 365
- Threat hunting with KQL
Headlines and short summaries only, except where a public body publishes under an open licence. Every story links to its publisher, who owns it. MyCyberWay does not edit or endorse third-party reporting.
