In the aftermath of a recent cyber-attack where hackers based in China reportedly breached the email accounts of approximately 25 organizations, including some government agencies, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is making a move to up its cybersecurity game. The tech titan has come under fire for the infiltration of its email system and is now offering cybersecurity tools at no cost to help organizations detect potential cyber threats, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Among those hit by the cyber-attack were officials from the State Department and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. However, as U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan noted, the breach was detected rather swiftly, preventing further unauthorized access. Vasu Jakkal, Microsoft’s vice president of security, disclosed that Microsoft will offer 31 security tools for free to those subscribing to its more affordable cloud services. The hacking group, referred to as Storm-0558, allegedly obtained access to user emails by forging authentication tokens through a stolen Microsoft account consumer signing key. While China has denied any involvement, this activity started on May 15 and continued.
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 31 Buys, three Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic above. Nevertheless, the average price target of $354.26 per share implies 1.45% downside risk.
