On Wednesday, Jun. 8, Microsoft announced bad news, informing the public it is scaling down its business in Russia. Thus, the move includes laying off 400 employees in the country.
The software giant is joining a string of companies that reduce their exposure or pull out of Russia after the war.
Microsoft Lays Off Employees in Russia
Microsoft first pulled the plug on new sales of products and services in Russia in March, and now the company is laying off 400 employees in the country as it starts to wind down its business there, according to Bloomberg News.
However, Microsoft said it would fulfill its contractual obligations with Russian customers first, while the suspension of new sales remains in effect.
A Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC that because of the economic outlook and impact of their business in Russia, they had decided to scale down their operations in the country.
The company says that it is working closely with impacted employees. It is now clear how many employees are currently working at Microsoft's office in Russia, but it has reportedly only accounted for less than 1% of Microsoft's revenue.
Microsoft is not the first multinational company to suspend its business in Russia. Several Western companies, including Apple, Nike, Dell, and Adidas, have severed ties with the country, closed their stores, or paused their sales.
Russia's Cyberattacks
In April, Microsoft revealed that Russia had launched several cyberattacks against Ukraine, pointing to a new era of hybrid warfare.
According to ZDNET, Microsoft revealed that it saw six Russia-aligned, state-sponsored hacking groups launch more than 237 cyberattacks against Ukraine weeks before Russia's invasion on Feb. 24.
The software giant released an in-depth report detailing how Russian cyberattacks against Ukraine were correlated or timed with its military operations in the country.
On Mar. 1, several media companies based in Kyiv were struck by destructive malware, which coincided with a missile strike on a Kyiv TV tower on the same day.
On Mar. 13, a Russian actor stole data from a nuclear safety organization, aligning with Russian troops seizing the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Microsoft's report also looks at Russia's use of destructive malware during and before the Ukraine invasion, the first of which was discovered by the software giant in mid-January and called WhisperGate.
Tom Burt, the Vice President of Customer Security & Trust, said that Russia's use of cyberattacks appears to be correlated and directly timed with its kinetic military operations targeting services and companies that are important for Ukrainians.
The report also stated that the day before Russia's military invaded Ukraine, operations connected to the GRU launched destructive wiper attacks on several systems in IT, energy, financial organizations, and the Ukrainian government.
Microsoft detected around 37 destructive malware attacks against Ukraine between Feb. 24 and Apr. 8 through eight different destructive malware families, including FoxBlade, which the software giant found in February.
It also included FiberLake, IsaacWiper/HermeticWiper/SonicVote, and CaddyWiper. Microsoft also detected Industroyer2, which is aimed at industrial control systems or ICS. In a lot of cases, the malware used the SecureDelete utility to wipe data.
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Written by Sophie Webster
