They were trying to steal data for extortion: Microsoft on stopping hackers from targeting Teams users

Microsoft has successfully stopped a wave of cyberattacks targeting people using its video conferencing tool Teams. The software giant was able to restrict these attacks by removing more than 200 digital keys that the hackers used to make their malicious software appear trustworthy. The company revealed that the hacking group, also known as Vanilla Tempest, was trying to deploy a type of harmful software called Rhysida ransomware. This software locks up a victim’s files, and the hackers then demand money to unlock them, a practice known as extortion. The group carried out these attacks using fake advertisements on search engines and tricky website links. They created websites with addresses that looked a lot like the official Microsoft Teams site.