including US Government departments were affected. This incident was part of a wider pattern of cyber intrusions by the SVR who have previously attempted to gain access to the IT networks of NATO members and governments across Europe. On 2 March 2021, Microsoft made public that sophisticated actors had attacked a number of Microsoft Exchange servers, which are used by organisations worldwide to manage their email, scheduling and collaboration. Microsoft assessed that the initial intrusions commenced as early as January 2021 and were Chinese statesponsored. In response to this they released multiple security updates for affected servers. In July 2021, the UK joined like-minded partners to confirm that Chinese state-backed actors were responsible for the attacks that affected 16 over a quarter of a million servers worldwide.16 The attack was highly likely to enable large-scale espionage, including acquiring personally identifiable information and intellectual property. Compromising Microsoft Exchange gave the perpetrator a foothold to pivot further into the IT networks of victims. At the time of the attack, the government quickly provided advice and recommended actions to those affected and Microsoft said that by the end of March that 92% of customers had patched against the vulnerability. FCDO, UK and allies hold Chinese state responsible for a pervasive pattern of hacking (2021) 28 National Cyber Strategy