By Thomson Reuters
Publication Date: 2026-10-21 21:20:00
Oct 21 (Reuters) – A Chinese state-aligned hacking group used an AI-driven penetration testing tool to compromise IT services firm ConnectWise as part of a campaign that targeted hundreds of organizations globally, Microsoft said on Wednesday.
Based on Microsoft’s analysis and evidence available to ConnectWise, “it appears that a China state-aligned group was responsible for the attack on ConnectWise Cloud Backup,” ConnectWise CEO Manny Rivelo said in a separate statement.
Rivelo said ConnectWise “contained the affected application connections and are restoring services in controlled phases,” and that “those actions do not remove unauthorized access that may have already been established within individual customer tenants, which require separate review.”
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing regularly denies conducting or condoning cyber-enabled data theft.
The hackers, which Microsoft…
