Microsoft 365 service hit by yet another outage

Microsoft 365 app logo
(Image credit: Microsoft)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft has been hit by another outage affecting its Microsoft 365 service.
  • The issue has impacted users based in Western Europe.
  • Microsoft has narrowed down the issue to data center based in Germany that's not performing at an optimum level.
  • Elaborate measures have been implemented to remedy the situation, and the issue has since been resolved. 

At the beginning of this month, the company experienced Office 365 disruptions peaking at over 18,000 users across Outlook, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business.

Microsoft looked into the matter and discovered that the outage was a result of a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack. Hacker group Anonymous Sudan quickly took to their channel on Telegram to take credit for the hit.

The attackers targeted Microsoft's OSI layer 7, that's in place to help apps like OneDrive and Outlook access network services. The company added that the attackers didn't manage to breach customer data.

As it happens, Microsoft can't seem to catch a break. Earlier this week, Microsoft 365 service was hit by another outage yet again. However, the issue seemed only to affect users from Western Europe.

The company has detailed the issue in its Microsoft 365 admin center under ID MO597504. Microsoft has indicated that the issue was preventing users from accessing their files.

Upon further investigation, the company discovered that the issue was being caused by a data center situated in Germany that wasn't "performing at optimal performance thresholds." 

The company has since put elaborate measures in place to remedy the situation in a bid to restore things back to normal. "We’ve applied mitigations to reduce the load on the affected infrastructure and are seeing improvements in availability," Microsoft added.

Microsoft has confirmed that the measures put in place have helped resolve the issue and that users can now access their files without encountering any challenges.

Have you had issues accessing your files across Microsoft 365 this week? Share your experience with us in the comments.

Microsoft 365 Personal | From $70/year

Microsoft 365 Personal | From $70/year Microsoft 365 Personal comes with the Office suite and 1TB of OneDrive storage. It allows you to work from several devices, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. It also includes a long list of other apps and services, such as Editor, Microsoft Forms, and Microsoft Teams.

Kevin Okemwa
Contributor

Kevin Okemwa is a seasoned tech journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya with lots of experience covering the latest trends and developments in the industry at Windows Central. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for detail, he has written for leading publications such as OnMSFT, MakeUseOf, and Windows Report, providing insightful analysis and breaking news on everything revolving around the Microsoft ecosystem. You'll also catch him occasionally contributing at iMore about Apple and AI. While AFK and not busy following the ever-emerging trends in tech, you can find him exploring the world or listening to music.

TOPICS