Microsoft: Chinese spies used AI to breach ConnectWise

Microsoft disclosed that a China state-aligned actor named Storm-0940 was behind the supply chain compromise of the ConnectWise Cloud Backup application. The threat actor used ARTEX, a Go-based agentic AI penetration testing framework, to automate scanning, reconnaissance, and password spraying at downstream victims. This activity targeted hundreds of organizations across various sectors since September 2026.

In the ConnectWise incident, Storm-0940 attempted to sign in to more than 2,250 tenants at a pace of 2,900 sign-in attempts per minute. Between October 10 and 14, 2026, the infrastructure conducted an automated cross-tenant password-spray campaign targeting 327 accounts across eight organizations. Microsoft captured over 151,000 failed logon events during this period, with activity peaking on October 11. No successful authentication, token issuance, Graph call, or directory change was detected during the initial campaign.

On October 15, 2026, the AI agents gained access to the identities of multiple ConnectWise cloud applications and began using them to authenticate to customer environments. In some cases, the agents progressed to Microsoft Graph and directory operations, including reconnaissance and application credential modifications. Microsoft says AI helped Storm-0940 execute attacks faster, with some progressing from initial targeting to privileged cloud access in under three hours. Storm-0940 is assessed to be active since at least 2021.

ConnectWise pulled the plug on its Cloud Backup, SaaS Security, and Cloud Management services after discovering unauthorized access to application identities. ConnectWise CEO Manny Rivelo said the company had contained the affected application connections and was gradually restoring services. In May 2025, ConnectWise admitted that a sophisticated nation-state actor had broken into its systems and compromised a small number of customers using its ScreenConnect remote access software.