March 2021 – Hackers Breach Thousands of Microsoft Customers Around the World
Firstly the good news. If you are a client of Hydrid ICT and we provide you with email support services, then you are probably safe.
All Hybrid ICT & The IT Guys (WA) clients are setup on Microsoft “Hosted” Exchange.
The mail servers are cloud-based and hosted by Microsoft themselves. Microsoft recently confirmed that customers using its cloud-based email system (Hosted Exchange) are not affected.
However, if your company or e-mail provider runs an “old” or “unsupported” version of Microsoft Exchange Server, then you/they could be in trouble.
Many of the latest batch of hack victims are small-to medium-sized business and local government agencies according to the reference Bloomberg article.
Organizations that could be most impacted are those that have an email server that’s running the vulnerable software and exposed directly to the internet, a risky setup that larger ones usually avoid.
How can I determine if I am using Microsoft “Hosted” Exchange or an older version of exchange?
Step 1
Make sure Outlook is running, then locate the Outlook icon by clicking the “^” (hidden icon) symbol.
Step 2
Hold the “Ctrl” key down and with the mouse right-click over the Outlook symbol and select “Connection Status”
Step 3
In the new window that appears called “Outlook Connection Status”, under “Server Name” if this contains “office365.com” then you are using Microsoft Hosted Exchange.
If something different is displayed, send us a screen shot and we can help you determine what kind of mail server you are connected to.
Further Reading
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/released-march-2021-exchange-server-security-updates/ba-p/2175901
https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2021/03/02/hafnium-targeting-exchange-servers/
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/
On-Premises Exchange Server Vulnerabilities Resource Center – updated March 25, 2021
https://www.howto-outlook.com/news/update-2021-3-exchange.htm
HYBRID ICT are a Microsoft Silver Small and Mid-market Cloud Solutions Partner and Apple Consultant Network Partner
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