Hello my tech-loving followers! Today, we’re talking about a recent attack on Outlook that left thousands of users unable to access their email accounts. According to The Associated Press, the attack was a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack that affected as many as 18,000 users at its peak.

Microsoft has since acknowledged the attack in a blog post and offered some technical details on how to guard against future attacks. However, the post doesn’t mention whether the company was able to get things under control or if the attack stopped on its own.

According to Cybernews, the group responsible for the attack is Anonymous Sudan, who have been active since at least January. The group claimed that the attack lasted about an hour and a half before stopping.

The attack targeted OSI layer 7, which is where applications access network services. Microsoft believes that the attackers used botnets and tools to launch their attacks from multiple cloud services and open proxy infrastructures. It appeared to be focused on disruption and publicity.

It’s not entirely clear how large traffic bursts were in the June attack, but it’s worth noting that Microsoft has dealt with similar attacks in the past. In 2021, they mitigated one of the largest DDoS attacks ever recorded, which lasted more than 10 minutes with traffic peaking at 2.4 terabits per second (Tbps). In 2022, an attack reached 3.47Tbps.

While it’s difficult to measure the impact of these attacks without more information from Microsoft, it’s clear that DDoS attacks remain a serious threat to online services. We’ll keep you updated if we receive any further information from Microsoft on this incident.

Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there!