Microsoft announces the 2024 Microsoft Security Excellence Awards winners

At this years Microsoft Security Excellence Awards, we took a journey through the evolution of cybersecurity from the 1950s to today. While this event theme celebrated the significant technological advancements that have shaped each decade, the main focus was on the Microsoft Intelligent Security...

Cryptojacking: Understanding and defending against cloud compute resource abuse

In cloud environments, cryptojacking – a type of cyberattack that uses computing power to mine cryptocurrency – takes the form of cloud compute resource abuse, which involves a threat actor compromising legitimate tenants. Cloud compute resource abuse could result in financial loss to targeted...

Microsoft announces the 2023 Microsoft Security Excellence Awards winners

In a world that’s constantly changing and challenging us, we believe that nothing can stop us when we work together. That’s the spirit of collaboration we celebrated on April 24, 2023, at the fourth annual Microsoft Security Excellence Awards. These awards recognize outstanding contributions from...

How Microsoft Purview and Priva help simplify data protection

At Microsoft Security, we understand how challenging it is to protect your most important asset, your data, in today’s threat landscape. You’re faced with evolving challenges—from empowering employees for greater productivity to eliminating gaps in your infrastructure—all while trying to protect...

Microsoft named a Leader in the 2022 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Security Information and Event Management

Security operations teams are overwhelmed trying to protect their organizations against an onslaught of cyberattacks, including a 92 percent rise in ransomware attacks.1 Too often, existing security tools are siloed or not designed to meet the needs of today’s hybrid cloud environment. The result...

Cyber Signals: 3 strategies for protection against ransomware

The “as a service” business model has gained widespread popularity as growing cloud adoption has made it possible for people to access important services through third-party providers. Given the convenience and agility of service offerings, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that the “as a servic...

MagicWeb: NOBELIUM’s post-compromise trick to authenticate as anyone

Updated August 26, 2022: Added instructions to enable collection of AD FS event logs in order to search for Event ID 501, and added a new resource for AD FS audit logging in Microsoft Sentinel. Microsoft security researchers have discovered a post-compromise capability we’re calling MagicWeb, whi...

Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting proactively hunts threats

Today, we announced the general availability of Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting to support organizations and their cybersecurity employees with proactive threat hunting. Defender Experts for Hunting was created for customers who have a robust security operations center but want Microsoft t...

Microsoft announces new solutions for threat intelligence and attack surface management

Uncover adversaries with new Microsoft Defender threat intelligence products The threat landscape is more sophisticated than ever and damages have soared—the Federal Bureau of Investigations 2021 IC3 report found that the cost of cybercrime now totals more than USD6.9 billion.1 To counter these...

How security leaders can help their teams avoid burnout

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 Maria...

Practical tips on how to use application security testing and testing standards

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 Daniel Cuthbert, Global Head of Security...

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,...

How to secure your hybrid work world with a Zero Trust approach

We are operating in the most complex cybersecurity landscape we’ve ever seen. Sophisticated and determined attackers are the norm. And we all are preparing for the next great disruption—hybrid work. Security has never been more important, and as I shared in another Security blog today, it’s clear...

Medius’ small IT team supports distributed workforce with Azure Active Directory

In today’s Voice of the Customer blog post, IT Manager Jacob Andersson and IT Systems Architect Fredrik Frööjd of Medius share how Azure Active Directory Azure AD has inspired employees to live by the cloud commitment the company encourages from customers and helped their small team support a...

Privacy breaches: Using Microsoft 365 Advanced Audit and Advanced eDiscovery to minimize impact

GDPR, HIPAA, GLBA, all 50 U.S. States, and many countries have privacy breach reporting requirements. If an organization experiences a breach of customer or employee personal information, they must report it within the required time frame. The size and scope of this reporting effort can be massiv...

Deliver productive and seamless user experiences with Azure Active Directory

Several months into the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are still working remotely, and our organizations are still adjusting. Top of mind for every IT leader in this current landscape is meeting users’ needs for seamless access to resources while safeguarding the business from cyber threats. The...

IoT security: how Microsoft protects Azure Datacenters

Azure Sphere first entered the IoT Security market in 2018 with a clear mission—to empower every organization on the planet to connect and create secure and trustworthy IoT devices. Security is the foundation for durable innovation and business resilience. Every industry investing in IoT must...

Microsoft Intelligent Security Association expands to include managed security service providers

We’d planned a splashy party at Microsoft Inspire to announce our newest Microsoft Intelligent Security Association MISA members and introduce them to association members, but given our world today, I am instead picturing you reading this announcement curled up in a chair with a cup of coffee...

The world is your authentication and identity oyster

This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligence Security Association guest blog series. To learn more about MISA, go here. The world is your authentication/identity oyster If you’re older than 10 years of age you’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase “The world is your oyster.” This basically mean...

Alternative ways for security professionals and IT to achieve modern security controls in today’s unique remote work scenarios

With the bulk of end users now working remotely, legacy network architectures that route all remote traffic through a central corporate network are suddenly under enormous strain. The result can be poorer performance, productivity, and user experience. Many organizations are now rethinking their...

New capabilities for eDiscovery now available

With the exponential growth of data, there is a pressing need for broader visibility into ever-increasing case activities that require eDiscovery to extend to chat-based communication and collaboration tools. New capabilities help you manage eDiscovery in Microsoft Teams including the ability to...

Changing the monolith—Part 2: Whose support do you need?

In Changing the monolith—Part 1: Building alliances for a secure culture, I explored how security leaders can build alliances and why a commitment to change must be signaled from the top. But whose support should you recruit in the first place? In Part 2, I address considerations for the...

Rethinking cyber scenarios—learning (and training) as you defend

In two recent posts I discussed with Circadence the increasing importance of gamification for cybersecurity learning and how to get started as a practitioner while being supported by an enterprise learning officer or security team lead. In this third and final post in the series, Keenan and I...

Storm-1175 focuses gaze on vulnerable web-facing assets in high-tempo Medusa ransomware operations

In this article 1. Storm-1175’s rapid attack chain: From initial access to impact 2. Mitigation and protection guidance 3. Microsoft Defender detections 4. Indicators of compromise The financially motivated cybercriminal actor tracked by Microsoft Threat Intelligence as Storm-1175 operates...

Sploitlight: Analyzing a Spotlight-based macOS TCC vulnerability

Microsoft Threat Intelligence has discovered a macOS vulnerability that could allow attackers to steal private data of files normally protected by Transparency, Consent, and Control TCC, such as files in the Downloads folder, as well as caches utilized by Apple Intelligence. While similar to prio...

​​How the Microsoft Secure Future Initiative brings Zero Trust to life

In this blog, you'll learn more about how the Microsoft Secure Future Initiative SFI—a real-world case study on Zero Trust—aligns with Zero Trust strategies. We’ll share key updates from the April 2025 SFI progress report and practical Zero Trust guidance to help you strengthen your organization’...

​​Explore practical best practices to secure your data with Microsoft Purview​​

According to the Microsoft 2024 Data Security Index, organizations experience an average of 156 data security incidents annually, and this cyberthreat continues to be a top concern for data security decision-makers.1 A full 82% of security decision-makers believe a comprehensive, fully integrated...

Get free DMARC visibility with Valimail Authenticate and Microsoft Office 365

This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association guest blog series. Learn more about MISA. Phishing and email spoofing not only erode brand trust but also leave recipients vulnerable to financial loss and serious invasions of privacy. These tactics have been around for...

Automating security assessments using Cloud Katana

Today, we are open sourcing Cloud Katana, a cloud-native serverless application built on the top of Azure Functions to assess security controls in the cloud and hybrid cloud environments. We are currently covering only use cases in Azure, but we are working on extending it to other cloud provider...

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...

Resources for accelerating your Zero Trust journey

For many organizations, 2020 was the year that finally saw remote work become a reality on a global scale. As many people begin transitioning back to the office, many organizations are thinking about how they can transition from a remote workforce to a more permanent hybrid workplace. We recently...

Gartner names Microsoft a Leader in the 2021 Endpoint Protection Platforms Magic Quadrant

Our mission to empower defenders and protect and secure organizations has never been more important to us. Over the last year, our customers have faced unpredictable challenges and nearly overnight have had to quickly adapt in the face of a new hybrid work environment, evolving sophistication and...

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...

Microsoft surpasses $10 billion in security business revenue, more than 40 percent year-over-year growth

I joined Microsoft a little more than six months ago—amid a global pandemic and a new norm of remote work, as well as one of the most rapidly evolving threat landscapes in history. We’ve witnessed more sophisticated attacks, like the recent SolarWinds incident, as well as an increase in attack...

Ensuring customers are protected from Solorigate

Microsoft is monitoring a dynamic threat environment surrounding the discovery of a sophisticated attack that included compromised binaries from a legitimate software. These binaries, which are related to the SolarWinds Orion Platform, could be used by attackers to remotely access devices. We hav...

Forrester TEI study: Azure Sentinel delivers 201 percent ROI over 3 years and a payback of less than 6 months

2020 has been a transitional year, ushering in broad changes in how, and where, we work. Security operations SecOps teams face more significant challenges than ever as they protect the organization in this rapidly changing environment. These teams need a flexible, cost-effective, and efficient...

Inside Microsoft Threat Protection: Solving cross-domain security incidents through the power of correlation analytics

In theory, a cyberattack can be disrupted at every phase of the attack chain. In reality, however, defense stack boundaries should overlap in order to be effective. When a threat comes via email, for example, even with good security solutions in place, organizations must assume that the threat ma...

Making Azure Sentinel work for you

Microsoft Azure Sentinel is the first Security Incident and Event Management SIEM solution built into a major public cloud platform that delivers intelligent security analytics across enterprise environments and offers automatic scalability to meet changing needs. This new white paper outlines be...

Moving to cloud-based SIEM: the cost advantage

Companies weigh multiple factors in any technology implementation, balancing risks with business needs and IT capabilities. And while the same is true with cloud-based security information and event management SIEM solutions, cost overwhelmingly shapes the discussion as well. For example, accordi...

Stay ahead of multi-cloud attacks with Azure Security Center

The COVID-19 crisis has challenged just about every business on the planet to quickly adapt and transform. With massive workforces now remote, IT administrators and security professionals are under increased pressure to keep these workers connected and productive while combating evolving threats,...

Changing the Monolith—Part 4: Quick tech wins for a cloud-first world

You may have heard that identity is the “new” perimeter. Indeed, with the proliferation of phishing attacks over the past few years, one of the best ways to secure data is to ensure that identity—the primary way we access data—can be trusted. How do we secure identity? Start by evaluating how use...

Ransomware response—to pay or not to pay?

The increased connectivity of computers and the growth of Bring Your Own Device BYOD in most organizations is making the distribution of malicious software malware easier. Unlike other types of malicious programs that may usually go undetected for a longer period, a ransomware attack is usually...

Microsoft Cloud Security solutions provide comprehensive cross-cloud protection

The infrastructure, data, and apps built and run in the cloud are the foundational building blocks for a modern business. No matter where you are in your cloud journey, you likely utilize every layer of the cloud—from infrastructure as a service IaaS to platform as a service PaaS to software as a...

Defending SaaS-based applications against ShinyHunters OAuth abuse

In this article 1. Attack chain overview 2. Improving visibility into Salesforce OAuth abuse 3. Mitigation and protection guidance 4. Learn more In a series of campaigns observed between mid-2025 and mid-2026, Microsoft identified threat actor activity with overlapping tradecraft commonly...

Exposing Fox Tempest: A malware-signing service operation

In this article 1. Fox Tempest’s role and impact 2. Fox Tempest’s malware signing as a service infrastructure 3. Defending against Fox Tempest-enabled attacks 4. Microsoft Defender detections 5. Indicators of compromise Fox Tempest is a financially motivated threat actor that operates a...

Active attack: Dirty Frag Linux vulnerability expands post-compromise risk

In this article 1. Why Dirty Frag matters 2. Technical overview 3. Exploitation scenarios 4. Mitigation guidance 5. Post-mitigation integrity verification 6. References A newly disclosed Linux local privilege escalation vulnerability known as “Dirty Frag” enables escalation from an unprivileged...

How to connect with Microsoft Security at Black Hat USA 2023

Now in its twenty-sixth year, Black Hat USA takes place August 5 to 10, 2023, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, bringing together security professionals for the latest in information security research, development, and trends. Microsoft Security is pleased to have a presence at Black Hat, wit...

Defenders beware: A case for post-ransomware investigations

Ransomware is one of the most pervasive threats that Microsoft Detection and Response Team DART responds to today. The groups behind these attacks continue to add sophistication to their tactics, techniques, and procedures TTPs as most network security postures increase. In this blog, we detail a...

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...

The art and science behind Microsoft threat hunting: Part 2

We discussed Microsoft Detection and Response Team’s DART threat hunting principles in part 1 of The art and science behind Microsoft threat hunting blog series. In this follow-up post, we will talk about some general hunting strategies, frameworks, tools, and how Microsoft incident responders wo...