In a Monday interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz discussed Microsoft’s high-profile security breach by a Russian intelligence group, saying these adversaries have a determined “low and slow” approach to hacking that’s especially tough to beat.
Microsoft announced on Friday that the group, known as Nobelium, carried out the attack and was able to access email accounts of some of the company’s top executives. Thought to be part of the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR, Nobelium is also known as Midnight Blizzard and Cozy Bear.
“This is a very determined adversary, but we’ve seen Cozy Bear in many different accounts, and the thing that makes them so difficult is they’re low and slow, the way they operate,” Kurtz said. “If you look at some of the campaigns that have taken place over the years, it’s taken place over many years, right, this is how patient they are.”
Nobelium has tried to breach the systems of U.S. allies as well as the Department of Defense. The group was also responsible for breaching government supplier SolarWinds, one of the biggest cyberattacks in U.S. history. Microsoft’s technology was also breached by the group in connection with the SolarWinds attack.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment
Kurtz characterized other foreign adversaries — such as hackers from China or even other Russian as — “smash and grabs,” saying Nobelium’s tactics are more drawn-out, patient and difficult to detect. He said CrowdStrike uses its algorithms to string together these “low signals” and identify such adversaries. Kurtz added that CrowdStrike has been able to stop the group in the past, saying that some of Microsoft’s customers seek additional support from his company.
“We’re helping all kinds of customers, and I think what I want to get back to is, security is a hard problem, one company is not going to solve it all,” he said. “We’re solving a big problem for our customers, and we’re helping them protect against these Microsoft-type breaches and vulnerabilities, and obviously that’s been a successful formula.”