Hacker attack

They were able to infiltrate the IT giant's internal networks by hacking into its supplier, SolarWinds. Microsoft stressed that no customer data had fallen into the hands of the hackers, nor had they been able to make changes to the source code.

The hackers behind the massive cyberattack on US government and corporate networks have gained access to the source code and internal systems of Microsoft Corporation. The Wall Street Journal reported this, citing the IT giant's press office.

The company confirmed that it had downloaded software from its vendor SolarWinds. This software was infected with malicious code. This is how cybercriminals gained access to Microsoft's internal networks.

"We detected unusual activity in some internal accounts and after checking, we found that one account was being used to view source code in multiple repositories", the corporation said.

Microsoft stressed that attackers who had taken possession of the account were able to view the source code, but not modify it. The company did not specify what products were affected by the hacker attack.

In mid-December, US media reported that the country's government and private networks had been under cyberattack for many months. The attack affected the Ministry of Finance, the National Telecommunications Administration (NTA) and other agencies.