Rackspace Technology officials are scrambling to assist customers with email access following a Dec. 2 ransomware attack, which left thousands of businesses unable to access their Exchange accounts. 

Earlier this week, Rackspace warned it was experiencing service disruptions due to the ransomware incident and may report revenue losses as well as incremental costs as it responds to the attack. 

The multicloud services provider said the ransomware was limited to its Hosted Exchange business, but warned it was unable to say how soon email access would be restored. 

In an update late Wednesday, Rackspace reminded Hosted Exchange customers that they would be able to access Microsoft 365, and provided a link with instructions to help them through the process. 

Rackspace also provided a detailed video tutorial to help customers transition over to Microsoft 365. 

The company said it was partnering with Microsoft’s FastTrack team to help customers with troubleshooting and any technical questions. Rackspace said working with the Microsoft team would help reduce wait times and expedite service. 

Rackspace previously said it retained a leading cyber defense firm to investigate the incident, however it did not disclose who was behind the ransomware attack, whether any specific ransom demand was made or how much, if anything, was paid. 

Jon Amato, senior director analyst at Gartner, said customers have historically embraced SaaS/PaaS services like Rackspace due to the perception they were safe havens from these types of cyberattacks. 

“They were never immune to ransomware, but given the generally good track record around security, there is an industry wide perception they are safer,” Amato said via email. “The very high profile of this attack is very likely to change the thinking around that.”

A class-action lawsuit against Rackspace dated Dec. 5 was filed in the U.S. District Court in San Antonio on behalf of an executive recruiting firm called Gateway Recruiting.