Here's how a German Microsoft software engineer's 'curiosity and craftsmanship' saved the world's internet from the 'most widespread and effective backdoor ever planted in any software product'

What you need to know

• Last week, a German Microsoft engineer uncovered a cyber attack that would have potentially allowed threat actors to access data from millions of unsuspecting users.
• The software engineer started investigating the issue after noticing sluggish processing power while using SSH to access computers remotely during routine checks. 
• Cybersecurity firms call the attack "the most widespread and effective backdoor ever planted in any software product."
• The issue was fixed a few hours after the software engineer reported it to a group of open-source software developers.