Microsoft has identified 'Storm-0558' as responsible for the hacking of email accounts, including some linked to US and Western Europe government agencies. 

Email accounts belonging to US State Department and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo were reportedly affected, The Washington Post has reported, citing official sources.

"The threat actor Microsoft links to this incident is an adversary based in China that Microsoft calls Storm-0558," the company said in a blog post late Tuesday, July 12th."Storm-0558 primarily targets government agencies in Western Europe and focuses on espionage, data theft and credential access."

Microsoft’s executive vice president of security, Charlie Bell, said the hacking group is focused on "espionage" and implied that the goal of the attack could have been "intelligence collection”. 

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the accusation is “disinformation” aimed at diverting...