Inside Tycoon2FA: How a leading AiTM phishing kit operated at scale

In this article 1. Operational overview of Tycoon2FA 2. Mitigation and protection guidance 3. Microsoft Defender detections Following its emergence in August 2023, Tycoon2FA rapidly became one of the most widespread phishing-as-a-service PhaaS platforms, enabling campaigns responsible for tens of...

AI vs. AI: Detecting an AI-obfuscated phishing campaign

Microsoft Threat Intelligence recently detected and blocked a credential phishing campaign that likely used AI-generated code to obfuscate its payload and evade traditional defenses. Appearing to be aided by a large language model LLM, the activity obfuscated its behavior within an SVG file,...

Unveiling RIFT: Enhancing Rust malware analysis through pattern matching

Today, Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center is excited to announce the release of RIFT , a tool designed to assist malware analysts automate the identification of attacker-written code within Rust binaries. Known for its efficiency, type safety, and robust memory safety, Rust has increasingly...

Microsoft Dismantles Malvertising Scam Using GitHub, Discord, Dropbox

Microsoft Threat Intelligence exposes a malvertising campaign exploiting GitHub, Discord, and Dropbox. Discover the multi-stage attack chain, the…...

Microsoft Warns of Malvertising Campaign Infecting Over 1 Million Devices Worldwide

Microsoft has disclosed details of a large-scale malvertising campaign that's estimated to have impacted over one million devices globally as part of what it said is an opportunistic attack designed to steal sensitive information. The tech giant, which detected the activity in early December 2024...

Malvertising campaign leads to info stealers hosted on GitHub

In early December 2024, Microsoft Threat Intelligence detected a large-scale malvertising campaign that impacted nearly one million devices globally in an opportunistic attack to steal information. The attack originated from illegal streaming websites embedded with malvertising redirectors, leadi...

Microsoft Identifies 3,000 Leaked ASP.NET Keys Enabling Code Injection Attacks

Microsoft is warning of an insecure practice wherein software developers are incorporating publicly disclosed ASP.NET machine keys from publicly accessible resources, thereby putting their applications in attackers' pathway. The tech giant's threat intelligence team said it observed limited...

Microsoft Reveals macOS Vulnerability that Bypasses Privacy Controls in Safari Browser

Microsoft has disclosed details about a now-patched security flaw in Apple's Transparency, Consent, and Control TCC framework in macOS that has likely come under exploitation to get around a user's privacy preferences and access data. The shortcoming, codenamed HM Surf by the tech giant, is track...

Cyber Signals: Inside the growing risk of gift card fraud

In the ever-evolving landscape of cyberthreats, staying ahead of malicious actors is a constant challenge. Microsoft Threat Intelligence has observed that gift cards are attractive targets for fraud and social engineering practices. Unlike credit or debit cards, there’s no customer name or bank...

Iranian Hackers Masquerade as Journalists to Spy on Israel-Hamas War Experts

High-profile individuals working on Middle Eastern affairs at universities and research organizations in Belgium, France, Gaza, Israel, the U.K., and the U.S. have been targeted by an Iranian cyber espionage group called Mind Sandstorm since November 2023. The threat actor "used bespoke phishing...

Windows CLFS and five exploits used by ransomware operators (Exploit #4 – CVE-2023-23376)

This is part five of our study about the Common Log File System CLFS and five vulnerabilities in this Windows OS component that have been used in ransomware attacks throughout the year. Please read the previous parts first if you havent already. You can skip to the other parts using this table of...

Researchers Unmask Sandman APT's Hidden Link to China-Based KEYPLUG Backdoor

Tactical and targeting overlaps have been discovered between the enigmatic advanced persistent threat APT called Sandman and a China-based threat cluster that's known to use a backdoor referred to as KEYPLUG. The assessment comes jointly from SentinelOne, PwC, and the Microsoft Threat Intelligenc...

Star Blizzard increases sophistication and evasion in ongoing attacks

Microsoft Threat Intelligence continues to track and disrupt malicious activity attributed to a Russian state-sponsored actor we track as Star Blizzard formerly SEABORGIUM, also known as COLDRIVER and Callisto Group. Star Blizzard has improved their detection evasion capabilities since 2022 while...

Star Blizzard increases sophistication and evasion in ongoing attacks

Microsoft Threat Intelligence continues to track and disrupt malicious activity attributed to a Russian state-sponsored actor we track as Star Blizzard formerly SEABORGIUM, also known as COLDRIVER and Callisto Group. Star Blizzard has improved their detection evasion capabilities since 2022 while...

Diamond Sleet supply chain compromise distributes a modified CyberLink installer

Microsoft Threat Intelligence has uncovered a supply chain attack by the North Korea-based threat actor Diamond Sleet ZINC involving a malicious variant of an application developed by CyberLink Corp., a software company that develops multimedia software products. This malicious file is a legitima...

Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk View Machine Edition

View CSAF 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CVSS v3 9.8 ATTENTION : Exploitable remotely/low attack complexity Vendor : Rockwell Automation Equipment : FactoryTalk View Machine Edition Vulnerability : Improper Input Validation 2. RISK EVALUATION Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an...

Midnight Blizzard conducts targeted social engineering over Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Threat Intelligence has identified highly targeted social engineering attacks using credential theft phishing lures sent as Microsoft Teams chats by the threat actor that Microsoft tracks as Midnight Blizzard previously tracked as NOBELIUM. This latest attack, combined with past activit...

Cadet Blizzard emerges as a novel and distinct Russian threat actor

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues into its second year and Microsoft continues to collaborate with global partners in response, the exposure of destructive cyber capabilities and information operations provide greater clarity into the tools and techniques used by Russian state-sponsored...

Nation-state threat actor Mint Sandstorm refines tradecraft to attack high-value targets

Over the past several months, Microsoft has observed a mature subgroup of Mint Sandstorm, an Iranian nation-state actor previously tracked as PHOSPHORUS, refining its tactics, techniques, and procedures TTPs. Specifically, this subset has rapidly weaponized N-day vulnerabilities in common...

Patch Tuesday - March 2023

Microsoft is offering fixes for 101 security issues for March 2023 Patch Tuesday, including two zero-day vulnerabilities; the most interesting of the two zero-day vulnerabilities is a flaw in Outlook which allows an attacker to authenticate against arbitrary remote resources as another user...