Microsoft said it observed destructive malware in systems belonging to several Ukrainian government agencies and organizations that work closely with the Ukrainian government.
The malware is disguised as ransomware but, if activated by the attacker, would render the infected computer system inoperable, the company said.
“We’re sharing this information to help others in the cybersecurity community look out for and defend against these attacks,” Microsoft said in a blog post.
“At this time, we have not identified notable overlap between the unique characteristics of the group behind these attacks and groups we’ve traditionally tracked, but we continue to analyze the activity,” Microsoft Vice President Tom Burt said on a company blog.
“The organizations affected by this malware include government agencies that provide critical executive branch or emergency response functions and an IT firm that manages websites for public and private sector clients, including government agencies whose websites were recently defaced, it said in the blog post.
A global media for the latest news, entertainment, music fashion, and more.