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A Microsoft Exchange Server Attack Caused Hours of Downtime for Businesses Around the Globe

Last week’s Microsoft Exchange Server attack underscores the liabilities of on-premise architectures compared to their cloud counterparts. On Friday, March 5th, 2021, a zero-day Microsoft Exchange vulnerability was found being exploited across the globe. It affected on-premise Exchange servers, all versions, and allowed the attacker to read emails, exfiltrate data and run the “code of attackers” choice. Unfortunately, a zero-day exploit is one that usually doesn’t have any patches against it. In short, if you had an Exchange Server out on the internet, then it COULD likely have been compromised.

A computer popup box screen warning of a system being hacked, compromised software enviroment. 3D illustration.

Our Break-Fix Client’s Last On-Premise Exchange Server Was Compromised

Microsoft (thankfully) moved quickly, and released a LOT of information, much of it confusing, with many incorrect links. It took our team some time to weed through the chaff and get the actionable tasks from it. The patches are out now, thankfully. It might take your IT folks 4 or 5 hours to install them, and yes, it’s Exchange/email downtime to get them there.

What’s the answer?  I’d say “defense in depth”:

Here are 5 steps you can take to mitigate the potential damage of the Microsoft Exchange Server attack:

  1. PatchingPatch publicly exposed servers quickly and completely.
  2. Zero Trust – Once your servers are built, and before they are exposed to the internet, lock them down! Malware protection can help, but Zero Trust is the ultimate malware protection!
  3. Cyber Insurance – Offload the risk to the insurance company.
  4. Migration – Move the service to a more agile company. Microsoft Office 365 was not vulnerable to this exploit.
  5. Backups –  Enough said.

These 5 steps can be takeaway lessons for even those unaffected by this security breach. Cloud computing costs are decreasing while increasing cybersecurity availability via affordability. Talk to our IT specialists to learn more about how cloud technology can protect your business.

 

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