According to volume 22 of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, Microsoft cloud user accounts saw a 300% increase in cyber attacks over the past year.

The report said: “A large majority of these compromises are the result of weak, guessable passwords and poor password management, followed by targeted phishing attacks and breaches of third-party services.”

According to the post, over two-thirds of Azure attacks came from IP addresses, with 32.5% from the US and 35.1% from China.

The remainder of attacks compromised 116 countries and regions, with Korea only representing 3.1% of attacks.

“Cloud services such as Microsoft Azure are perennial targets for attackers seeking to compromise virtual machines and other services, and these attacks are taking place across the globe,” the report said.

The highest ransomware rates occurred in Europe, with the Czech Republic representing 0.17% of all attacks, and Italy, Hungary and Spain similarly represented 0.14%.

The lowest ransomware encounter rates occurred in Japan (0.012%), China (0.014%), and the United States (0.02%), according to the report.

The report added: “Microsoft recommends that victims of ransomware infections do not pay the so-called fine.

“Ransomware is distributed by malicious attackers, not legitimate authorities, and paying the ransom is no guarantee that the attacker will restore the affected computer to a usable state.”

The report also documented the rise of ransomware, noting that the trend itself has been felt in different degrees based on geographic location.

Written by Leah Alger