Quebec confirmed on Tuesday that public administration websites may have to close due to a security flaw affecting the Microsoft SharePoint service.
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Several groups of Chinese hackers have exploited this flaw, according to Microsoft information obtained by the France-Presse agency. This allows them to recover, without authorization, identifiers and then access the servers. It is then that they can implement malicious programs or get their hands on files and documents housed in the servers.
The various websites of the Quebec public administration could therefore be inaccessible to the public with this preventive closure.
“This vulnerability affects systems of several governments and companies, including certain ministries and organizations of Quebec,” confirmed the Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital (MCN).
The MCN makes investigations to solve the problem and “ensure continuity of services”.
The ministry did not specify the websites affected by the security flaw.
According to Microsoft’s latest data, more than 200 million users actively use SharePoint software. The company recommends that its customers update their program.
