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Hurricanes, blizzards, derechos,and tornadoes can wreak havoc on a companys physical infrastructure, causingserious monetary damage.Companies and insurers that include long-termweather forecastingin their risk analysis may want to consider anotherthreat. Corporate leaders need to be aware that there is a massivecybersecurity storm threatening U.S. technology companies and those that rely ontheir services.

Companies that rely on cloud computing services, such asMicrosoft Corp.s Azure, are increasingly facing cyberattacks and phishingschemes as cybercriminals learn more sophisticated measures to gain valuable data,according to Microsofts most recent Security Intelligence Report. Cyberattacks on Microsoftscloud-based user accounts have increased 300 percent from Q1 2016 compared toQ1 2017, the report said. Additionally, fraudulent log-ins from maliciousinternet protocol (IP) addresses increased 44 percent in the same period, itsaid.

Many of the cloud-targeted cyberattacks are linked tohome-grown U.S. threats, but they also come from nation-state actors such asChina, Microsoft said. According to the report, two-thirds of the attacks onMicrosofts Azure web service in Q1 2017 came from internet protocol addressesin the U.S. (35.1 percent) and China (32.5 percent). South Korea is third onthe list, accounting for only 3.1 percent of the attacks with 116 othercountries following behind, it said.

Cyberattacks from other nation-states, however, can beequally destructive and account for many of the other attacks on techcompanies, political entities, and news organizations. Cyberattacks linked toNorth Korea, Russia, Syria, and other countries have become more prevalent inrecent years. Attacks on Sony PicturesEntertainment Inc., the Democratic National Committee, the New YorkTimes Co., and even the U.S. Army illustratethe cybersecurity risk to U.S.-based companies and organizations.

Cloud-based services arent the only technology systemsunder attack. Recent large scale ransomware-like attacks, including Petyaand WannaCry,struck at the core of many multinational companies and organizations includingOreo-maker Mondelez International Inc., shipping magnate A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S,and international law firm DLA Piper.

Companies in the U.S., however, fared much better inransomware attacks than their European counterparts, the report said. Theseattacks hit European companies at a higher rate than the rest of the world.Companies and organizations located in the Czech Republic (0.17 percent), Italy(0.14 percent), Hungary (0.14 percent), and Spain (0.14 percent) saw thelargest amount of ransomware encounters, the report said. But, Japan (0.012percent), China (0.014 percent) and the U.S. (0.02 percent) were hit at thelowest rate, it said.

Although Microsoft said in a recent blogthat it invests $1 billion annually on cybersecurity, it and other industrypartners may need to spend more if cloud-based and ransomware attacks continueto rain down.

To keep up with the constantly evolving world of privacy andsecurity sign up for the Bloomberg BNA Privacy and Security Update.

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Cyberattacks Rain Down on Cloud Computing Infrastructure ... - Bloomberg BNA