Microsoft Corporation has spotted more than 40 customers worldwide who have installed problematic versions of third-party IT management programs. The company claimed on Thursday that those customers were pointed by a Russian hacking campaign exposed this week. The tech corporation stated that those victims are mostly in the US, nearly 80%. However, the rest are in the countries including Belgium, Spain, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, UAE and Israel.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said that there is an assurance that the number and location of victims will continue developing. Also, the company has attempted to inform the affected organizations. Moreover, Smith said that the cyber-attack is ongoing and actively inquired by cybersecurity teams in both private and public sectors, including Microsoft Corporation.

SolarWinds, an IT management company, sold a third-party software program to Microsoft. Microsoft, then, secretly conducted the most precise and most specific analysis of the damage caused by the hacking move.

SolarWinds Orion has about 18,000 worldwide clients, including private companies, government offices and other firms too. Microsoft stated on Thursday that the attack hit many significant major capitals outside Russia.

Cyber-Attack, US Energy Department Confirms hit by Hack

The software giant is continuously working as an inquiring partner to cybersecurity firm FireEye, which is also a victim and issued the first warning about the supply chain attack. FireEye recently recognized victims across several countries, including government, consulting, technology, telecom in North America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Reuters revealed on Thursday that Microsoft had compromised too. Microsoft said that it has separated and removed a weakness in its system attached to software that encouraged a supported Russian hacking effort.

US officials believed that updates to the hacking software used as a malicious code carrier belong to SolarWinds Orion and embedded in Microsoft’s network, as stated on Thursday.

The assertion denotes Microsoft’s first open affirmation that along with inquiring the malware, it was also a victim.

The FBI is among those investigating the hacking campaign

The Microsoft stated that like other SolarWinds clients, they have been looking for indicators of this attacker. Moreover, the giant can confirm that they rooted out malicious SolarWinds binaries in their periphery which they removed.

Further claimed by Microsoft that they have not discovered proof that an actual data breach happened or that the hackers misused their access. The organization pushed back on a Reuters report that proposed Microsoft’s items utilized to compromise different victims.

The American Energy Department also said it has evidence hackers gained access to its networks as part of the campaign. Earlier, Politico reported that the National Nuclear Security Administration was targeted, which manages the country’s nuclear weapons stock. Moreover, the malware has not impacted US national security, including the NNSA. However, the malware only isolated to business networks as reported by the spokeswoman of the Energy Department.

President-elect Joe Biden said that he would elevate the cybersecurity as an imperative across the government from undertaking such significant hacks.