Microsoft Incident Response lessons on preventing cloud identity compromise

Microsoft observed a surge in cyberattacks targeting identities in 2023, with attempted password-based attacks increasing by more than tenfold in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Threat actors leverage compromised identities to achieve a significant level of access t...

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...

Defending against cryptojacking with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Intel TDT

Cryptocurrency mining—once considered no more than a nuisance, a relatively benign activity that was a drain on machine resources—has been on the rise in recent years. This increase in cryptocurrency mining activity is driven by the increasing value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the growth in...

What tracking an attacker email infrastructure tells us about persistent cybercriminal operations

From March to December 2020, we tracked segments of a dynamically generated email infrastructure that attackers used to send more than a million emails per month, distributing at least seven distinct malware families in dozens of campaigns using a variety of phishing lures and tactics. These...

Uncursing the ncurses: Memory corruption vulnerabilities found in library

Microsoft has discovered a set of memory corruption vulnerabilities in a library called ncurses, which provides APIs that support text-based user interfaces TUI. Released in 1993, the ncurses library is commonly used by various programs on Portable Operating System Interface POSIX operating...

Malware distributor Storm-0324 facilitates ransomware access

The threat actor that Microsoft tracks as Storm-0324 is a financially motivated group known to gain initial access using email-based initial infection vectors and then hand off access to compromised networks to other threat actors. These handoffs frequently lead to ransomware deployment. Beginnin...

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 named Best Email Security Service of 2023 by SE Labs

In todays world where hybrid and remote work are on the rise, and companies rely on email now more than ever, phishing remains one of the most prominent and sophisticated techniques that malicious actors utilize to attack organizations and gain access to their most sensitive information...

Securing IoT devices against attacks that target critical infrastructure

South Staffordshire PLC, a company that supplies water to over one million customers in the United Kingdom, notified its customers in August of being a target of a criminal cyberattack. This incident highlights the sophisticated threats that critical industries face today. According to South...

New Microsoft Sysmon report in VirusTotal improves security

Today, following the 25th year anniversary of Microsoft Sysinternals, we are announcing the general availability of a new Microsoft Sysmon report in VirusTotal. Whether you’re an IT professional or a developer, you’re probably already using Microsoft Sysinternals utilities to help you manage,...

Microsoft at Black Hat 2021: Sessions, bug bounty updates, product news, and more

Black Hat USA 2021 is about understanding the needs of security professionals and meeting you where you are. With last year’s pandemic-related firefighting still fresh in our minds, this year’s event will provide a welcome respite to learn about cutting-edge security solutions, build our skillset...

Protecting SAP applications with the new Azure Sentinel SAP threat monitoring solution

As one of the leading solution providers for applications that manage business processes, SAP is the custodian for massive amounts of sensitive data in many of the biggest organizations in the world. Since these applications are business-critical, an SAP security breach can be catastrophic. Yet,...

Microsoft recognized as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Data Security Platforms, Q1 2023

Organizations need to protect their sensitive data including intellectual property, trade secrets, customer data, and personally identifiable information from both insiders and external cyber attackers. In fact, 80 percent of organizations experience more than one data breach in their lifetime.1...

FoggyWeb: Targeted NOBELIUM malware leads to persistent backdoor

Microsoft continues to work with partners and customers to track and expand our knowledge of the threat actor we refer to as NOBELIUM, the actor behind the SUNBURST backdoor, TEARDROP malware, and related components. As we stated before, we suspect that NOBELIUM can draw from significant...

Cybersecurity’s next fight: How to protect employees from online harassment

The security community is continuously changing, growing, and learning from each other to better position the world against cyber threats. In the latest Voice of the Community blog series post, Microsoft Product Marketing Manager Natalia Godyla talks with Leigh Honeywell, CEO and Co-founder of Ta...

MITRE ATT&CK® mappings released for built-in Azure security controls

The Security Stack Mappings for Azure research project was published today, introducing a library of mappings that link built-in Azure security controls to the MITRE ATT&CK® techniques they mitigate against. Microsoft once again worked with the Center for Threat-Informed Defense and other Center...

Forrester names Microsoft a Leader in the 2023 Enterprise Email Security Wave

In today’s rapidly evolving connected workplace, where hybrid and remote work are increasingly the norm, workplace productivity and communications tools like email and chat applications are more important than ever. However, cyberthreats continue to evolve with increasing capabilities and...

Becoming resilient by understanding cybersecurity risks: Part 4—navigating current threats

In part three of this blog series on aligning security with business objectives and risk, we explored what it takes for security leaders to shift from looking at their mission as purely defending against technical attacks, to one that focuses on protecting valuable business assets, data, and...

AI security risk assessment using Counterfit

Today, we are releasing Counterfit, an automation tool for security testing AI systems as an open-source project. Counterfit helps organizations conduct AI security risk assessments to ensure that the algorithms used in their businesses are robust, reliable, and trustworthy. AI systems are...

Peach Sandstorm password spray campaigns enable intelligence collection at high-value targets

Since February 2023, Microsoft has observed password spray activity against thousands of organizations carried out by an actor we track as Peach Sandstorm HOLMIUM. Peach Sandstorm is an Iranian nation-state threat actor who has recently pursued organizations in the satellite, defense, and...

Detecting and preventing LSASS credential dumping attacks

Obtaining user operating system OS credentials from a targeted device is among threat actors’ primary goals when launching attacks because these credentials serve as a gateway to various objectives they can achieve in their target organization’s environment, such as lateral movement. One techniqu...

Learn about 4 approaches to comprehensive security that help leaders be fearless

The last 18 months have put unprecedented pressure on organizations to speed up their digital transformation as remote and hybrid work continue to become the new normal. Yet even with all the change and uncertainty, having the right security support system in place means your organization can sti...

International Women’s Day: How to support and grow women in cybersecurity

Today, March 8, we are proud to celebrate International Women’s Day. The United Nations announced this year’s theme as “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” As a woman, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a leader at Microsoft, this is an important time t...

New TTPs observed in Mint Sandstorm campaign targeting high-profile individuals at universities and research orgs

Since November 2023, Microsoft has observed a distinct subset of Mint Sandstorm PHOSPHORUS targeting high-profile individuals working on Middle Eastern affairs at universities and research organizations in Belgium, France, Gaza, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In this campaign,...

Looking for the ‘Sliver’ lining: Hunting for emerging command-and-control frameworks

Microsoft has observed the Sliver command-and-control C2 framework now being adopted and integrated in intrusion campaigns by nation-state threat actors, cybercrime groups directly supporting ransomware and extortion, and other threat actors to evade detection. We’ve seen these actors use Sliver...

Iran-linked DEV-0343 targeting defense, GIS, and maritime sectors

DEV-0343 is a new activity cluster that the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center MSTIC first observed and began tracking in late July 2021. MSTIC has observed DEV-0343 conducting extensive password spraying against more than 250 Office 365 tenants, with a focus on US and Israeli defense technolog...

Forrester Consulting TEI Study: Azure Security Center delivers 219 percent ROI over 3 years and a payback of less than 6 months

Azure Security Center is a critical tool to secure our multi-cloud workloads in the new world of remote work we find ourselves in today. We are excited to share that Forrester Consulting has just conducted a commissioned Total Economic Impact TEI study on behalf of Microsoft, which involved...

Microsoft to acquire RiskIQ to strengthen cybersecurity of digital transformation and hybrid work

Organizations are increasingly using the cloud to reimagine every facet of their business. Hybrid work has accelerated this digital transformation, and customers are challenged with the increasing sophistication and frequency of cyberattacks. Today, Microsoft is announcing that we have entered in...

Strategies, tools, and frameworks for building an effective threat intelligence team

How to think about building a threat intelligence program The security community is continuously changing, growing, and learning from each other to better position the world against cyber threats. In the latest Voice of the Community blog series post, Microsoft Product Marketing Manager Natalia...

Hart and Microsoft announce partnership to incorporate ElectionGuard

On Thursday, June 3, 2021, via a joint press release on Microsoft Stories, Hart InterCivic and Microsoft have announced a partnership to incorporate ElectionGuard software developed by Microsoft into Hart’s Verity voting systems. The partnership makes Hart the first major voting machine...

MITRE Engenuity ATT&CK® Evaluation proves Microsoft Defender for Endpoint stops advanced attacks across platforms

For the third year in a row, Microsoft successfully demonstrated industry-leading defense capabilities in the independent MITRE Engenuity ATT&CK Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge Evaluations. As the attack surface evolves on a near-daily basis, threat actors are creating more...

Sophisticated cybersecurity threats demand collaborative, global response

Microsoft’s response to Solorigate Since December, the United States, its government, and other critical institutions including security firms have been addressing the world’s latest serious nation-state cyberattack, sometimes referred to as ‘Solorigate’ or ‘SUNBURST.’ As we shared earlier this i...

Identity governance: The power of “Why not?”

Innovation requires the courage to take risks and the leadership skills to show others that risks are worth taking. That’s why I love working with people like Joe Dadzie, a partner group program manager in identity governance. Joe has a long history of championing disruptive technology...

MSRT October 2016 release: Adding more unwanted software detections

Unwanted software often piggy-backs on program downloads, delivered by software bundlers. These bundles, which you might have downloaded, can include software that you do not want, and some that are harmful. The bundled or “extra” software can perform actions on your device that run the gambit fr...

Microsoft acquires CloudKnox Security to offer unified privileged access and cloud entitlement management

Today on the Official Microsoft Blog, Microsoft announced the acquisition of CloudKnox Security, a leader in Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management CIEM. CloudKnox offers complete visibility into privileged access. It helps organizations right-size permissions and consistently enforce...

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 acquires ReFirm Labs to enhance IoT security

Modern computing devices can be thought of as a collection of discrete microprocessors each with a dedicated function like high-speed networking, graphics, Disk I/O, AI, and everything in between. The emergence of the intelligent edge has accelerated the number of these cloud-connected devices th...

BlueVoyant optimizes customer security with Microsoft security services

This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association MISA guest blog series. Learn more about MISA. What a year it has been. The rapid and unexpected transition to work from home is one of the biggest issues affecting companies of all sizes and industries in 2020. As companies...

How to build a successful application security program

The security community is continuously changing, growing, and learning from each other to better position the world against cyber threats. In the latest Voice of the Community blog series post, Microsoft Product Marketing Manager Natalia Godyla talks with Tanya Janca, Founder of We Hack Purple...

DEV-0196: QuaDream’s “KingsPawn” malware used to target civil society in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia

April 2023 update – Microsoft Threat Intelligence has shifted to a new threat actor naming taxonomy aligned around the theme of weather. DEV-0196 is now tracked as Carmine Tsunami. To learn more about this evolution, how the new taxonomy represents the origin, unique traits, and impact of threat...

MCCrash: Cross-platform DDoS botnet targets private Minecraft servers

Malware operations continue to rapidly evolve as threat actors add new capabilities to existing botnets, increasingly targeting and recruiting new types of devices. Attackers update malware to target additional operating systems, ranging from PCs to IoT devices, growing their infrastructure...

Microsoft Security highlights from Black Hat USA 2022

Black Hat USA 2022 marked the twenty-fifth year that security researchers, security architects, and other security professionals have gathered to share the latest research, developments, and trends. Microsoft was among the companies participating in the conference, which was from August 6 to 11,...

Windows 11 enables security by design from the chip to the cloud

Over the last year, PCs have kept us connected to family, friends, and enabled businesses to continue to run. This new hybrid work paradigm has got us thinking about how we will continue to deliver the best possible quality, experience, and security for the more than 1 billion people who use...

CyberMDX and Microsoft: Protecting life-saving medical devices

This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association MISA guest blog series. Learn more about MISA. While hospitals continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, many are battling other “viruses” behind the scenes. Malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks against healthcare...

Zero Trust: 7 adoption strategies from security leaders

Microsoft considers Zero Trust an essential component of any organization’s security plan. We have partnered with Cloud Security Alliance, a not-for-profit organization that promotes cloud computing best practices, to bring together executive security leaders to discuss and share insights about...

How companies are securing devices with Zero Trust practices

Organizations are seeing a substantial increase in the diversity of devices accessing their networks. With employees using personal devices and accessing corporate resources from new locations in record numbers, IT leaders are seeing an increase in their attack surface area. They’re turning to Ze...

EDR in block mode stops IcedID cold

We are happy to announce the general availability of endpoint detection and response EDR in block mode in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. EDR in block mode turns EDR detections into real-time blocking of malicious behaviors, malware, and artifacts. It uses Microsoft Defender for Endpoint’s...

Overview of Petya, a rapid cyberattack

In the first blog post of this 3-part series, we introduced what rapid cyberattacks are and illustrated how they are different in terms of execution and outcome. Next, we will go into some more details on the Petya aka NotPetya attack. How Petya worked The Petya attack chain is well understood,...

Microsoft Security Copilot drives new product integrations at Microsoft Ignite to empower security and IT teams

First announced in March 2023, Microsoft Security Copilot—Microsofts first generative AI security product—has sparked major interest. The widespread enthusiasm was on full display after announcing our Early Access Program in October 2023 and sharing our incredible Security Copilot innovations at...

Gain flexibility and scale with a cloud-native DLP solution

We’re living in a seismic era for data security. Chief information security officers CISOs have to contend with a digital landscape that seems to shift daily as more organizations move to remote and hybrid work, redrawing the boundaries for how data is used and shared. The cloud has enabled...

Microsoft supports the DoD’s Zero Trust strategy

The Department of Defense DoD released its formal Zero Trust strategy today, marking a major milestone in its goal of achieving enterprise-wide implementation by 2027. The strategy comes at a critical time as United States government networks continue to face nearly half the global nation-state...