Microsoft responds to Cortana source code hack

Microsoft responds to Cortana source code hack

A group of hackers has hit Microsoft, accessing the source code repositories of Azure DevOps and leaking the source code of Cortana and several other Microsoft projects, according to engadged.

It is the latest round of attacks launched by the group called "$LAPSUS", which have also been successfully targeted by Nvidia, Ubisoft and other big tech giants.

And the latest update from the group on March 22, includes sharing a 9GB archive, which contains source code for 250 projects from Microsoft.

Of these, the group claims to have 90% of the source code for Bing, 45% of the source code for Bing Maps and Cortana, and these are just some of the hacked data, as the full archive contains 37GB of Microsoft source code.

The source code for Windows and Office was not included in the leak, according to Bleeping Computer, which believes the leaked files are original. Instead, the files are linked to mobile apps or websites and contain emails and other documents used by internal Microsoft engineers who worked in projects.

Microsoft confirmed the hack in a blog post detailing the actions of the $LAPSUS$ group it is tracking as DEV-0537. In the post, Microsoft said the hackers had "limited access" to the source code since one account was hacked, and Microsoft went on to explain that no customer code or data was included in the activities.

Microsoft explained that despite the seriousness of this matter, the hacking group $LAPSUS$ is not typical, and the group is more interested in ransomizing the source code of tech giants in order to make a profit.

This is because source code repositories can also contain API keys and code-signing certificates, and $LAPSUS did this with Nvidia when it stole DLSS code and demanded that the GPU maker "completely open source (and distribute under the FOSS license) [its GPU drivers]."