In a blog post Tuesday, Microsoft said it observed hackers attempting to “gain initial access to target organizations.” According to Microsoft, those involved included hacking groups called Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon—which Microsoft said are linked to the Chinese government—and China-based group Storm-2603.

The company said state-backed hacking groups were breaching systems through flaws in SharePoint, which is used by the U.S. government and companies around the world.

A security patch Microsoft released this month failed to fully fix a critical flaw in the U.S. tech giant's SharePoint server software, opening the door to a sweeping global cyber espionage effort. In a blog post on Tuesday,