The popular email service Outlook.com has been experiencing multiple outages over the past couple of days, causing significant disruptions for its global user base. A group identifying themselves as Anonymous Sudan has claimed responsibility for these interruptions, stating that they have been carrying out distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on the service.
The frequent outages have caused an uproar among Outlook users who depend on the platform for professional and personal communications. Many have taken to social media to voice their frustrations, arguing that the unstable service is negatively impacting their productivity.
Microsoft, however, has attributed the disruptions to technical issues, continuously posting updates on Twitter regarding their progress in resolving the situation. In a recent tweet, the company stated, “We’ve identified that the impact has started again, and we’re applying further mitigation.” They also assured users that due to previously applied mitigations, the impact has reduced compared to earlier instances.
Meanwhile, Anonymous Sudan has declared that these DDoS attacks on Microsoft are a form of protest against the United States’ involvement in Sudan’s internal affairs. They’ve claimed their capacity to target any US company and have warned of continued attacks on large US businesses, government, and infrastructure unless the US refrains from meddling in Sudanese matters.
The group has also been publicizing their alleged attacks on Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft 365 services on their Telegram channel. In one of their messages, they proposed a bizarre offer, suggesting that Microsoft should pay them $1,000,000, and in return, they would educate Microsoft’s cybersecurity experts on how to fend off such attacks.
The primary URL for the Outlook.com web service, “https://outlook.live.com/mail/0/,” is purportedly the main target of these claimed attacks. However, the veracity of Anonymous Sudan’s assertions remains unconfirmed at this time.
The continuous outages and the ongoing tug-of-war between Microsoft’s attempts at mitigation and the claimed DDoS attacks by Anonymous Sudan have left users caught in the middle. As the situation unfolds, it’s crucial for companies to bolster their cybersecurity measures to withstand such assaults and for governments to tackle the escalating issue of cyber hacktivism.
Microsoft was contacted for comment regarding the alleged DDoS attacks by Anonymous Sudan but has yet to respond. As the tech giant grapples with these persistent disruptions, millions of Outlook users worldwide are eagerly awaiting a resolution and a return to the reliable service they have come to expect.