iTrax's  Instablog

We are not surprised, Microsoft writes in a statement released Friday afternoon. Quite frankly, neither am I…

"As reported by Facebook and Apple, Microsoft can confirm that we also recently experienced a similar security intrusion."

Microsoft Security Response Center

(click to enlarge)

When trying to log on to my online banking service this morning, I was met by a message that said that the service was down due to technical problems. It may, or may not, be related, but somehow I got a feeling it perhaps was more to this story than met my sleepy eyes.

And I really hate to tell you; I might be right.

On the Microsoft security pages, I found the following statement, issued on Friday afternoon:

"As reported by Facebook and Apple, Microsoft can confirm that we also recently experienced a similar security intrusion."

The IT giant goes on explaining:

"During our investigation, we found a small number of computers, including some in our Mac business unit, that were infected by malicious software using techniques similar to those documented by other organizations."

Microsoft also says that the company has "no evidence of customer data being affected and our investigation is ongoing."

Personally, I don't find these standard press release statements very reassuring

In fact, I find the following line more interesting:

"This type of cyberattack is no surprise to Microsoft and other companies that must grapple with determined and persistent adversaries."

Compared to the banking industry's attempts to convince me that online banking is totally safe, it seems rather clear that they are not telling me everything...

Here's the prior analysis of emerging threat trends by Microsoft.

(Full statement)

• Citibank Hacked: 200.000 Credit Card Numbers Stolen, May Affect 20 Million Customers
• What's going On Online, Bank of America?
• Bank Of America's Website Crashes - Another Attack?
• Major Security Problems at Baltic Bank Group
• Online Banking Malware Has Surfaced
• Internet Nuke Bomb Ready To Blow
• Europe: Cyber Criminals Attack Critical Water, Oil and Gas Systems
• Stuxnet Mutants All Over The Web
• US Federal Reserve: Hacked, Tapped and Smacked
• The Cyber War (Complete Coverage) Part 2: A New Battlefield