Ask HN: What do website visits from Microsoft Corporation imply?

1 points by NicoleJO ↗ HN
Do they suggest visits from Microsoft employees? Or can _anyone_ use a Microsoft Corporation IP address? This is just one WHOIS record of an MS IP doing some pretty weird stuff on my site, and I'm getting concerned:

NetRange: 20.33.0.0 - 20.128.255.255 CIDR: 20.64.0.0/10, 20.33.0.0/16, 20.36.0.0/14, 20.48.0.0/12, 20.34.0.0/15, 20.40.0.0/13, 20.128.0.0/16 NetName: MSFT NetHandle: NET-20-33-0-0-1 Parent: NET20 (NET-20-0-0-0-0) NetType: Direct Allocation OriginAS: Organization: Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) RegDate: 2017-10-18 Updated: 2021-12-14 Ref: https://rdap.arin.net/registry/ip/20.33.0.0

OrgName: Microsoft Corporation OrgId: MSFT Address: One Microsoft Way City: Redmond StateProv: WA PostalCode: 98052 Country: US RegDate: 1998-07-10 Updated: 2022-03-28 Comment: To report suspected security issues specific to traffic emanating from Microsoft online services, including the distribution of malicious content or other illicit or illegal material through a Microsoft online service, please submit reports to: Comment: * https://cert.microsoft.com. Comment: Comment: For SPAM and other abuse issues, such as Microsoft Accounts, please contact: Comment: * abuse@microsoft.com. Comment: Comment: To report security vulnerabilities in Microsoft products and services, please contact: Comment: * secure@microsoft.com. Comment: Comment: For legal and law enforcement-related requests, please contact: Comment: * msndcc@microsoft.com Comment: Comment: For routing, peering or DNS issues, please Comment: contact: Comment: * IOC@microsoft.com Ref: https://rdap.arin.net/registry/entity/MSFT

OrgTechHandle: MRPD-ARIN OrgTechName: Microsoft Routing, Peering, and DNS OrgTechPhone: +1-425-882-8080 OrgTechEmail: IOC@microsoft.com OrgTechRef: https://rdap.arin.net/registry/entity/MRPD-ARIN

OrgTechHandle: IPHOS5-ARIN OrgTechName: IPHostmaster, IPHostmaster OrgTechPhone: +1-425-538-6637 OrgTechEmail: iphostmaster@microsoft.com OrgTechRef: https://rdap.arin.net/registry/entity/IPHOS5-ARIN

OrgAbuseHandle: MAC74-ARIN OrgAbuseName: Microsoft Abuse Contact OrgAbusePhone: +1-425-882-8080 OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@microsoft.com OrgAbuseRef: https://rdap.arin.net/registry/entity/MAC74-ARIN

4 comments

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Or can _anyone_ use a Microsoft Corporation IP address?

Yes. By signing up for an Azure Virtual Desktop.

Ah! That probably explains things. Thanks!
What kind(s) of pretty weird stuff is going on?
Oh, you know. Stuff like probing for sensitive files, using bizarre useragents, repeatedly trying to access a denied portion of the site...

Stuff like that.

I'm pretty used to that stuff from the expected foes, but I thought it was strange to see this coming from a Microsoft resource.