Protecting customers from Octo Tempest attacks across multiple industries

In recent weeks, Microsoft has observed Octo Tempest, also known as Scattered Spider, impacting the airlines sector, following previous activity impacting retail, food services, hospitality organizations, and insurance between April and July 2025. This aligns with Octo Tempest’s typical patterns ...

Medical research data Advarra stolen after SIM swap

Clinical research company Advarra has reportedly been compromised after a SIM swap on one of their executives. SIM swapping, also known as SIM jacking, is the act of illegally taking over a target’s cell phone number. This can be done in a number of ways, but one of the most common methods involv...

Microsoft Warns as Scattered Spider Expands from SIM Swaps to Ransomware

The prolific threat actor known as Scattered Spider has been observed impersonating newly hired employees in targeted firms as a ploy to blend into normal on-hire processes and takeover accounts and breach organizations across the world. Microsoft, which disclosed the activities of the financiall...

Octo Tempest crosses boundaries to facilitate extortion, encryption, and destruction

Microsoft has been tracking activity related to the financially motivated threat actor Octo Tempest, whose evolving campaigns represent a growing concern for organizations across multiple industries. Octo Tempest leverages broad social engineering campaigns to compromise organizations across the...