Microsoft’s customers are under constant cyber assault, facing millions of attacks daily from various threat actors as nation-states and cybercrime gangs are increasingly collaborating, escalating the severity and frequency of attacks.  They had observed a concerning trend of state-affiliated actors outsourcing cyber operations to criminal groups, which is evident in various activities, such as financial gain, intelligence gathering, and data theft.  For instance, Russian threat actors have enlisted cybercriminals to target Ukrainian military devices using commodity malware, while Iranian nation-state actors leveraged ransomware to extort individuals on a dating website. North Korea has developed its own ransomware, FakePenny, to target aerospace and defense organizations, indicating a dual motivation of intelligence gathering and financial gain, which highlights the increasing collaboration between state actors and cybercriminals, posing significant threats to cybersecurity.

Source: GBHackers