After exposing the allegedly widespread hacking activities of Chinese authorities, tech giant Microsoft Corporation has come to terms with the fact that it has to alter its existing policy. The company will now inform or send notification to concerned email customers if they are being subjected to state-sponsored cyber attacks.

Like Us on Facebook

A few years ago, analysts of Microsoft Corp suggested that Chinese authorities had been intruding into thousands of Hotmail email accounts to target international leaders particularly Tibetans and Uighurs. However, the company preferred to keep quiet about the attack, thus permitting the phishers to continue with their scheme, said a previous Microsoft employees.

On Wednesday, Microsoft finally released a statement telling Reuters that the company will modify its existing terms and would now inform concerned customers if they are targets of state-sponsored attacks. In addition, Microsoft spokesperson Fran Shaw clarified that the company was never sure of the alleged hackers of the Hotmail accounts and admitted that they indeed did not notify the customers involved. But when asked what made them changed their minds, he refused to make any comments.

The first public signals of attacks were manifested since May 2011. However, there was no direct confirmation from Microsoft that the attacks were carried out by Chinese hackers.

Trend Micro Inc, a security firm, revealed that it discovered an email from Taiwan, which has a miniature computer program, and counted over a thousand victims of this email hacking program. Microsoft was able to cover the issue even before the security firm had the chance to disclose it to the public. This detected computer program has the ability to discreetly dispatch or forward copies of the Hotmail users' incoming emails into an account used by the hacker. 

Several attacks reportedly came from a Chinese network called AS4808. Although Microsoft did not argue that the attacks were from China, it  pointed out that some also came from other places. "As the threat landscape has evolved our approach has too, and we'll now go beyond notification and guidance to specify if we reasonably believe the attacker is 'state-sponsored," Microsoft said following the announcement of its new policy.

In response to the allegations, the Chinese government has reiterated its stand as "a resolute defender of cyber security and strongly opposes any forms of cyberattacks," Lu Kang, Chinese Foreign Ministry, said. "I must say that if the relevant party has some real and conclusive evidence, then it can carry out mutually beneficial cooperation with China in a constructive way in accordance with the existing channels."  

Tagsmicrosoft corporation, Chinese hackers, hacking attacks, Reuters, state-sponsored attacks