726 matches found
Understanding the performance impact of Spectre and Meltdown mitigations on Windows Systems
Last week the technology industry and many of our customers learned of new vulnerabilities in the hardware chips that power phones, PCs and servers. We and others in the industry had learned of this vulnerability under nondisclosure agreement several months ago and immediately began developing...
Microsoft teams up with law enforcement and other partners to disrupt Gamarue (Andromeda)
Today, with help from Microsoft security researchers, law enforcement agencies around the globe, in cooperation with Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit DCU, announced the disruption of Gamarue, a widely distributed malware that has been used in networks of infected computers collectively called the...
Understanding the true size of “Fireball”
Keeping tabs on the movement of cybersecurity threats, understanding the size and scope of attacks, and disrupting cybercriminal campaigns through next-gen technologies are fundamental parts of our day-to-day work at Microsoft Windows Defender Research. So when recent reports of the "Fireball"...
Kovter becomes almost file-less, creates a new file type, and gets some new certificates
Trojan:Win32/Kovter is a well-known click-fraud malware which is challenging to detect and remove because of its file-less persistence on infected PCs. In this blog, we will share some technical details about the latest changes we have seen in Kovter’s persistence method and some updates on their...
Protect intellectual property with Govern 365 and Microsoft Purview
This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association guest blog series. Learn more about MISA. Global supply chains face a broad range of risks, from physical threats to cybersecurity threats. Sharing information with suppliers is essential for the supply chain to function...
Improve supply chain security and resiliency with Microsoft
Let’s start with the bad news. Cybersecurity breaches can be particularly devastating for supply chains, which involve multiple parties and sensitive information. As operational technology OT devices become increasingly connected, blurring the gap between IT and OT environments, the risk of hacke...
Microsoft achieves first native Cloud Data Management Capabilities certification
Today, Microsoft announced the successful completion of the Cloud Data Management Capabilities CDMC 14 Key Controls and Automations certification, conducted by Accenture and Avanade, accelerating the industry’s move to the cloud. The 14 Key Controls and Automations are a part of the EDM Council’s...
Microsoft threat intelligence presented at CyberWarCon 2022
At CyberWarCon 2022, Microsoft and LinkedIn analysts presented several sessions detailing analysis across multiple sets of actors and related activity. This blog is intended to summarize the content of the research covered in these presentations and demonstrates Microsoft Threat Intelligence...
Microsoft Security tips for mitigating risk in mergers and acquisitions
Sixty-two percent of organizations that undertake mergers and acquisitions face significant cybersecurity risks or consider cyber risks their biggest concern post-acquisition.1 Threat actors that focus on corporate espionage often target the acquiring company, which we will refer to as the Parent...
4 breakthrough ideas for compliance and data security
Compliance management will never be easy, but there are ways to make it simpler and more transparent. Every year, organizations confront a growing volume and diversity of data and ever-evolving industry and government regulations. But the answer to more data, more devices, and more regulations...
Why strong security solutions are critical to privacy protection
The security community is continuously changing, growing, and learning from each other to better position the world against cyberthreats. In the latest post of our Voice of the Community blog series, Microsoft Security Senior Product Marketing Manager Brooke Lynn Weenig talks with Ann Cavoukian,...
This World Password Day consider ditching passwords altogether
Did you know that May 5, 2022, is World Password Day?1 Created by cybersecurity professionals in 2013 and designated as the first Thursday every May, World Password Day is meant to foster good password habits that help keep our online lives secure. It might seem strange to have a day set aside to...
AI-driven adaptive protection against human-operated ransomware
In human-operated ransomware attacks, threat actors use predictable methods to enter a device but eventually rely on hands-on-keyboard activities to move inside a network. To fortify our existing cloud-delivered automated protection against complex attacks like human-operated ransomware, we...
Why diversity is important for a strong cybersecurity team
Medicine. Aeronautics. Academia. When you’re a cybersecurity professional, the colleague next to you could have started in one of these industries—or just about any other you can imagine. The backgrounds of cybersecurity professionals are more diverse than those of professionals in other...
Application fuzzing in the era of Machine Learning and AI
Proactively testing software for bugs is not new. The earliest examples date back to the 1950s with the term fuzzing. Fuzzing as we now refer to it is the injection of random inputs and commands into applications. It made its debut quite literally on a dark and stormy night in 1988. Since then,...
How public-private partnerships can combat cyber adversaries
For several years now, policymakers and practitioners from governments, CERTs, and the security industry have been speaking about the importance of public-private partnerships as an essential part of combating cyber threats. It is impossible to attend a security conference without a keynote...
Microsoft at Legalweek: Secure data and gain efficiencies with Microsoft Purview eDiscovery enhanced by generative AI
The legal profession is known for being cautious or hesitant to adopt new technologies. However, when it comes to AI, it seems like legal professionals are ready to be on the leading edge of AI implementation. A Thomson Reuters survey of legal professionals found that 82% agree that AI can be...
How Microsoft and Sonrai integrate to eliminate attack paths
Cloud development challenges conventional thinking about risk. A “perimeter” was always the abstraction that security teams could start from—defining their perimeter and exposing the cracks in firewalls and network access. With more and more infrastructure represented as ephemeral code, protectin...
Join our digital event to learn what’s new in Microsoft Entra
Editors note 6/15/2023: This blog has been updated to reflect the new date for this event, which is now July 11, 2023. It was previously scheduled for June 20, 2023. In today’s interconnected world, there’s virtually no limit to what technology can help us achieve. Millions of connections happen...
See product news and on-demand sessions from Microsoft Secure
“Great speakers and very knowledgeable.” “Brilliant.” “Wonderful and very useful.” The first Microsoft Secure on March 28, 2023, was a huge success—as this attendee feedback shows. Our virtual event brought together more than 20,000 security professionals eager to learn security best practices an...
Join us at InfoSec Jupyterthon 2022
Notebooks are gaining popularity in InfoSec. Used interactively for investigations and hunting or as scheduled processing jobs, notebooks offer plenty of advantages over traditional security operations center SOC tools. Sitting somewhere between scripting/macros and a full-blown development...
5 cybersecurity capabilities announced at Microsoft Ignite 2022 to help you secure more with less
Protecting your business against growing security threats is a huge priority. Companies of all sizes have increased their spending on cybersecurity solutions to protect their operations over the last year. User spending for the information security and risk management market will grow to USD169.2...
Cybersecurity awareness tips from Microsoft to empower your team to #BeCyberSmart
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and I’m excited about what Microsoft and our partners in the industry have planned to help everyone stay CyberSmart. 2022 may have offered some respite from the previous year’s rush to enable a remote and hybrid workforce, but the increased use of persona...
Improving AI-based defenses to disrupt human-operated ransomware
Microsoft’s deep understanding of human-operated ransomware attacks, which are powered by a thriving cybercrime gig economy, continuously informs the solutions we deliver to protect customers. Our expert monitoring of threat actors, investigations into real-world ransomware attacks, and the...
Why decentralization is the future of digital identities
Our identity is increasingly becoming digitized—more of our hard copy credentials are converting into digital formats. We use these digital credentials to work, learn, play, socialize, shop, and consume services online and offline every day. It’s so convenient and expected now to be able to have...
The hunt for NOBELIUM, the most sophisticated nation-state attack in history
This is the second in a four-part blog series on the NOBELIUM nation-state cyberattack. In December 2020, Microsoft began sharing details with the world about what became known as the most sophisticated nation-state cyberattack in history. Microsoft’s four-part video series “Decoding NOBELIUM”...
How Microsoft Defender for IoT can secure your IoT devices
Cybersecurity threats are always evolving, and today we’re seeing a new wave of advanced attacks specifically targeting IoT devices used in enterprise environments as well as operational technology OT devices used in industrial systems and critical infrastructure like ICS/SCADA. It’s not surprisi...
Encouraging women to embrace their cybersecurity superpowers
The cybersecurity challenges of today require a diversity of skills, perspectives, and experiences, yet women remain underrepresented in this field. On International Women’s Day, some Microsoft Security women leaders penned a powerful blog highlighting the underrepresentation of women in...
Microsoft announces recipients of academic grants for AI research on combating phishing
Every day in the ever-changing technology landscape, we see boundaries shift as new ideas challenge the old status quo. This constant shift is observed in the increasingly sophisticated and connected tools, products, and services people and organizations use on a daily basis, but also in the...
Behind the scenes of business email compromise: Using cross-domain threat data to disrupt a large BEC campaign
Microsoft 365 Defender researchers recently uncovered and disrupted a large-scale business email compromise BEC infrastructure hosted in multiple web services. Attackers used this cloud-based infrastructure to compromise mailboxes via phishing and add forwarding rules, enabling these attackers to...
CRSP: The emergency team fighting cyber attacks beside customers
What is CRSP? Microsoft Global Compromise Recovery Security Practice. Who is CRSP? We are a worldwide team of cybersecurity experts operating in most countries, across all organizations public and private, with deep expertise to secure an environment post-security breach and to help you prevent a...
Developing an effective cyber strategy
The word strategy has its origins in the Roman Empire and was used to describe the leading of troops in battle. From a military perspective, strategy is a top-level plan designed to achieve one or more high-order goals. A clear strategy is especially important in times of uncertainty as it provid...
Antivirus evolved
Some say antivirus is an outdated technology. What does “antivirus” even mean? For us, antivirus is the most commonly recognized term that means for customers “a product that stops bad programs from infecting my device.” Saying “antivirus” is similar to when you hear a Southerner like myself say...
Phishers unleash simple but effective social engineering techniques using PDF attachments
The Gmail phishing attack is reportedly so effective that it tricks even technical users, but it may be just the tip of the iceberg. We’re seeing similarly simple but clever social engineering tactics using PDF attachments. These deceitful PDF attachments are being used in email phishing attacks...
Fake fax ushers in revival of a ransomware family
Note: Read our latest comprehensive report on ransomware: Ransomware 1H 2017 review: Global outbreaks reinforce the value of security hygiene. "Criminal case against you" is a message that may understandably cause panic. That’s what a recent spam campaign hopes happens, increasing the likelihood ...
Navigating privacy in a data-driven world with Microsoft Priva
Data protection and privacy have become business imperatives. In a global survey conducted by Microsoft and leaders in the academic privacy space, 90 percent of respondents said they would not buy from an organization that does not properly protect its data.1 More than ever, people have a high...
New security features for Windows 11 will help protect hybrid work
Attackers haven’t wasted any time capitalizing on the rapid move to hybrid work. Every day cybercriminals and nation-states alike have improved their targeting, speed, and accuracy as the world adapted to working outside the office. These changes have put "cybersecurity issues and risks” at the t...
Cybersecurity threats are always changing—staying on top of them is vital, getting ahead of them is paramount
With a 1,070 percent increase in ransomware attacks year-over-year between July 2020 and June 2021, staying on top of attack trends—such as ransomware and supply chain threats—is more important than ever.1 To successfully detect and defend against security threats, we need to come together as a...
Structured threat hunting: One way Microsoft Threat Experts prioritizes customer defense
Todays threat landscape is incredibly fast-paced. New campaigns surface all the time, and the amount of damage that they can cause is not always immediately apparent. Security operations centers SOCs must be equipped with the tools and insight to identify and resolve potentially high-impact threa...
Microsoft unpacks comprehensive security at Gartner and Forrester virtual events
Every day, Microsoft is committed to maintaining comprehensive security for all across our interconnected global community. With that purpose in mind, we recently sponsored the 2021 Gartner Security and Risk Summit and 2021 Forester Security and Risk Forum, where we discussed ongoing changes in t...
Averting ransomware epidemics in corporate networks with Windows Defender ATP
Note: Read our latest comprehensive report on ransomware: Ransomware 1H 2017 review: Global outbreaks reinforce the value of security hygiene. Microsoft security researchers continue to observe ransomware campaigns blanketing the market and indiscriminately hitting potential targets...
3 reasons why now is the time to go cloud native for device management
The post 3 reasons why now is the time to go cloud native for device management appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog...
How to build a secure foundation for identity and access
The security community is continuously changing, growing, and learning from each other to better position the world against cyberthreats. In the latest post of our Community Voices blog series, Microsoft Security Senior Product Marketing Manager Brooke Lynn Weenig talks with Christina Richmond, a...
Microsoft collaborates with Tenable to support federal cybersecurity efforts
On May 12, 2021, the White House issued Presidential Executive Order EO 14028 to establish cybersecurity as a national priority.1 As part of this effort, the White House has called for greater public and private sector collaboration to address the evolving threats facing federal agencies. In the...
How Red Canary and Microsoft can help reduce your alert fatigue
This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association guest blog series. Learn more about MISA. Security alert fatigue Organizations often feel overwhelmed by the number of security alerts they receive. Frustrated by alert fatigue, these organizations want a deeper understandin...
Learn how Microsoft strengthens IoT and OT security with Zero Trust
As cyber threats grow more sophisticated and relentless, the need for Cybersecurity Awareness Month becomes more urgent every year. As part of our year-round commitment to security for all, Microsoft continues to track numerous incidents targeting both digital and physical operations for many...
Discover what’s new and gain technical expertise from MISA at Ignite
It’s hard to believe we’re so close to the end of another year, and what a year it’s been. For too brief a time in some places, our masks were tossed away, only to find us digging them out of drawers again not long after. But masked up or not, it’s been good to see local restaurants buzzing with...
Microsoft recognized as a Leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Information Archiving
Organizations face an increasing volume of data generated daily and ever-evolving regulations around how that data is managed. To help navigate this complex information landscape, we are focused on delivering integrated, intelligent, and user-centric solutions. Over the past few years, we...
Microsoft publishes new report on holistic insider risk management
The risk landscape for organizations has changed significantly in the past few years. The amount of data captured, copied, and consumed is expected to grow to more than 180 zettabytes through 2025.1 Traditional ways of identifying and mitigating risks don’t always work. Historically, organization...
CSO perspective: Why a strong IAM strategy is key to an organization’s cybersecurity approach
The security community is continuously changing, growing, and learning from each other to better position the world against cyberthreats. In the latest post of our Community Voices blog series, Microsoft Security Senior Product Marketing Manager Brooke Lynn Weenig talks with Alissa “Dr. Jay”...