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...

OAuth redirection abuse enables phishing and malware delivery

Microsoft observed phishing-led exploitation of OAuth’s by-design redirection mechanisms. The activity targets government and public-sector organizations and uses silent OAuth authentication flows and intentionally invalid scopes to redirect victims to attacker-controlled infrastructure without...

Microsoft ranked number one in modern endpoint security market share third year in a row

Amidst the backdrop of a surging number of ransomware campaigns worldwide, organizations have increasingly chosen Microsoft Defender’s endpoint security as their preferred solution. It’s engineered to disrupt cyberattacks and not business continuity. As a result, for a third year a row, Microsoft...

Microsoft unveils expansion of AI for security and security for AI at Microsoft Ignite

The future of security with AI The increasing speed, scale, and sophistication of recent cyberattacks demand a new approach to security. Traditional tools are no longer enough to keep pace with the threats posed by cybercriminals. In just two years, the number of password attacks detected by...

Digital security sessions at Microsoft Ignite to prepare you for the era of AI

Thousands of security professionals will join us for Microsoft Ignite 2023 from November 14 to 17, 2023, where we will share how to embrace the AI era confidently, with protection for people, data, devices, and apps that extends across clouds and platforms. With more than 45 security sessions,...

Defending new vectors: Threat actors attempt SQL Server to cloud lateral movement

Microsoft security researchers recently identified a campaign where attackers attempted to move laterally to a cloud environment through a SQL Server instance. This attack technique demonstrates an approach weve seen in other cloud services such as VMs and Kubernetes cluster, but not in SQL Serve...

Microsoft Entra expands into Security Service Edge and Azure AD becomes Microsoft Entra ID

A year ago when we announced the Microsoft Entra product family, we asked what the world could achieve if we had trust in every digital experience and interaction.1 This question inspired us to offer a vision for securing the millions and millions of connections that happen every second between...

Simplified endpoint management with Microsoft Intune Suite: Adopting a long-term approach with intelligence and automation

The last couple of years have been difficult, with many organizations operating in a response mode. From a global pandemic to an economic downturn to increasing security risks, teams are under more pressure than ever to deliver greater cyber security and do more with less. This responsive approac...

Microsoft named a Leader in 2022 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Access Management for the 6th year

We are honored to announce that Microsoft has been named a Leader in the 2022 Gartner® Magic QuadrantTM for Access Management for Microsoft Azure Active Directory Azure AD, part of Microsoft Entra. We thank our customers who guide our strategy and product innovation, engage with us deeply in...

How Microsoft Purview and Priva support the partner ecosystem

Today, many enterprise organizations are multicloud and multiplatform. Critical enterprise data is located across clouds and platforms, requiring security and compliance no matter where it lives. To solve the complexity that comes with these environments, organizations have invested in multiple...

How Microsoft Security partners are helping customers do more with less

There has never been a greater demand for specialized cybersecurity expertise—or a greater opportunity for our partners to support our customers with new services and solutions. Over the last year, the permanent shift to hybrid work has empowered businesses to be remote and mobile. Increased...

‘Ice phishing’ on the blockchain

The technologies that connect us are continually advancing, and while this brings tremendous new capabilities to users, it also opens new attack surfaces for adversaries and abusers. Social engineering represents a class of threats that has extended to virtually every technology that enables huma...

Detect active network reconnaissance with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

The Microsoft Compromise Recovery Security Practice has observed how the security industry has evolved over the last few years as consumers, businesses, and industry professionals continue to adapt to the changing landscape. We have seen the emergence of new frameworks, such as the Cybersecurity...

Protect against phishing with Attack Simulation Training in Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Sophisticated cyberattacks are on the rise, with email phishing as the most common attack vector. We’ve seen it all over the news with stories like Hafnium that targeted Exchange servers1 or the Nobelium attack against SolarWinds,2 which show just how easy it is for bad actors to distribute a...

How Microsoft is partnering with vendors to provide Zero Trust solutions

As workplaces around the world embrace hybrid work, Zero Trust provides the guiding strategy that keeps companies secure. However, no two organizations are alike. The Zero Trust journey will look unique for every organization that implements it. This means we must work together to create solution...

Franken-phish: TodayZoo built from other phishing kits

A phishing kit built using pieces of code copied from other kits, some available for sale through publicly accessible scam sellers or are reused and repackaged by other kit resellers, provides rich insight into the state of the economy that drives phishing and email threats today. We uncovered th...

MISA expands portfolio and looks ahead during Microsoft Inspire

This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association MISA guest blog series. Learn more about MISA. Welcome to fiscal year 2022 FY22 and my first official blog as the MISA Lead. It’s been a whirlwind couple of months getting up to speed with all things MISA—closing out FY21...

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...

Secure unmanaged devices with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint now

As we have entered into new hybrid work environments, businesses need to think about how they will proactively protect their organizations from the influx of new or “bring your own” BYO connected devices. This new normal has exposed the most challenging cybersecurity landscape we’ve ever...

Protecting multi-cloud environments with Azure Security Center

We’ve heard from many of you that multi-cloud adoption is becoming a standard operating model for your organization and that it’s challenging to have the right security controls and posture across your environment. Historically, security teams have not had effective tools to secure multi-cloud...

Becoming resilient by understanding cybersecurity risks: Part 1

All risks have to be viewed through the lens of the business or organization. While information on cybersecurity risks is plentiful, you can’t prioritize or manage any risk until the impact and likelihood to your organization is understood and quantified. This rule of thumb on who should be...

Prevent and detect more identity-based attacks with Azure Active Directory

Security incidents often start with just one compromised account. Once an attacker gets their foot in the door, they can escalate privileges or gather intelligence that helps them reach their goals. This is why we say that identity is the new security perimeter. To reduce the risk of a data breac...

IT executives prioritize Multi-Factor Authentication in 2020

In 2020, many IT executives will roll out or expand their implementation of Multi-Factor Authentication MFA to better safeguard identities. This is one of the key findings of a survey conducted by Pulse Q&A for Microsoft in October 2019.1 Specifically, 59 percent of executives will implement or...

New Microsoft Security innovations and partnerships

Today on the Official Microsoft Blog, Ann Johnson, Corporate Vice President of the Cybersecurity Solutions Group, shared how Microsoft is helping turn the tide in cybersecurity by putting artificial intelligence AI in the hands of defenders. She announced the general availability of Microsoft...

The language of InfoSec

As the cybersecurity industry has evolved, one dynamic has remained consistent: our industry-"speak". We use a language that is very unique, difficult for new folks to understand, and oftentimes just plain sensationalistic. While any industry has its own technical terms, our language can also be ...

Want better apps? You need a (agile security) hero!

If weve learned anything from the rise of Marvel Cinematic Universe, its that good things tend to happen when heroes intervene. For securing new applications, this metaphor is a useful one because security isnt always top-of-mind for scrum teams, nor is it always conducive to meeting aggressive...

Securing the modern workplace with Microsoft 365 threat protection – part 3

This post is authored by Debraj Ghosh, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft 365 Security. Detecting ransomware in the modern workplace Over the last two weeks, we have shared with you the roots of Microsoft 365 threat protection and how Microsoft 365 threat protect helps protect the modern...

Microsoft Security Intelligence Report volume 23 is now available

As security incidents and events keep making headlines, Microsoft is committed to helping our customers and the rest of the security community to make sense of the risks and offer recommendations. Old and new malware continues to get propagated through massive botnets, attackers are increasing...

Preinstall to persistence: Inside the Red Hat npm Miasma credential-stealing campaign

In this article 1. Attack chain overview 2. Mitigation and protection guidance 3. Learn more Microsoft Threat Intelligence identified a large-scale npm supply chain attack affecting 32 maliciously modified packages across more than 90 versions under the @redhat-cloud-services npm scope. The...

SOHO router compromise leads to DNS hijacking and adversary-in-the-middle attacks

In this article 1. DNS hijacking attack chain: From compromised devices to AiTM and other follow-on activity 2. Mitigation and protection guidance 3. Microsoft Defender detection and hunting guidance Executive summary Forest Blizzard, a threat actor linked to the Russian military, has been...

AI as tradecraft: How threat actors operationalize AI

In this article 1. AI as an enabler for cyberattacks 2. Post-compromise misuse of AI 3. Emerging trends 4. Mitigation guidance for AI-enabled threats 5. Microsoft Defender detections Threat actors are operationalizing AI along the cyberattack lifecycle to accelerate tradecraft, abusing both...

Meet the Deputy CISOs who help shape Microsoft’s approach to cybersecurity: Part 2

Microsoft launched its Cybersecurity Governance Council in 2024, and with it, named a group of deputy chief information security officers that ensure comprehensive oversight of the company’s cybersecurity risk, defense, and compliance. These leaders work in tandem with product and engineering...

How implementing a trust fabric strengthens identity and network

The identity security landscape is transforming rapidly. Every digital experience and interaction is an opportunity for people to connect, share, and collaborate. But first, we need to know we can trust those digital experiences and interactions. Customers note a massive rise in the sheer number ...

Forrester names Microsoft Intune a Leader in the 2023 Forrester Wave™ for Unified Endpoint Management

Maintaining a secure and optimized digital environment allows new ideas to flourish wherever they occur. In the modern workplace, where devices and locations are no longer fixed, Microsoft Intune eases the task of managing and protecting the endpoints of businesses everywhere. It helps secure...

Automatic Conditional Access policies in Microsoft Entra streamline identity protection

Extending our commitment to help customers be secure by default, today were announcing the auto-rollout of Microsoft Entra Conditional Access policies that will automatically protect tenants based on risk signals, licensing, and usage. Weve designed these policies based on our deep knowledge of t...

Cloud storage security: What’s new in the threat matrix

Today, we announce the release of a second version of the threat matrix for storage services, a structured tool that assists in identifying and analyzing potential security threats on data stored in cloud storage services. The matrix, first released in April 2021 as detailed in the blog post Thre...

Microsoft Security Experts discuss evolving threats in roundtable chat

I don’t know about you, but we’re still catching our breath after 2022. Microsoft Security blocked more than 70 billion email and identity threats last year.1 In the same 12-month span, ransomware attacks impacted more than 200 large organizations in the United States alone, spanning government,...

4 things to look for in a multicloud data protection solution

What does it mean to be a multicloud organization? As the name implies, the term describes a model of cloud computing where an organization uses multiple clouds—two or more public clouds, private clouds, or a combination of public, private, and edge clouds—to distribute applications and services...

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...

The art and science behind Microsoft threat hunting: Part 1

At Microsoft, we define threat hunting as the practice of actively looking for cyberthreats that have covertly or not so covertly penetrated an environment. This involves looking beyond the known alerts or malicious threats to discover new potential threats and vulnerabilities. Why do incident...

Easy authentication and authorization in Azure Active Directory with No-Code Datawiza

This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association guest blog series. Learn more about MISA. The acceleration of cloud journeys fueled by the pandemic and ever-increasing concerns about data security and information privacy have made access management one of the hottest topi...

New Secured-core servers are now available from the Microsoft ecosystem to help secure your infrastructure

In the current pandemic-driven remote work environments, security has become increasingly important. Earlier this year, Colonial Pipeline, one of the leading suppliers of fuel on the East Coast of the United States, was hit by a ransomware attack.1 This caused a massive disruption of the fuel...

Microsoft’s 5 guiding principles for decentralized identities

Three years ago, as part of Microsoft’s mission to empower people and organizations to achieve more, we announced that we were incubating a new set of decentralized identity technologies based on a simple vision: Each of us needs a digital identity we own, one which securely and privately stores...

Forrester names Microsoft a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Cloud Security Gateways, Q2 2021

I am thrilled to share that Forrester Research has named Microsoft Cloud App Security as a Leader in The Forrester Wave: Cloud Security Gateways, Q2 2021. Additionally, Microsoft received the highest score in the strategy category. People have increasingly used cloud apps to stay productive and...

Azure Sentinel achieves a Leader placement in Forrester Wave, with top ranking in Strategy

I’m thrilled to announce Forrester Research has named Microsoft Azure Sentinel as a “Leader” in The Forrester Wave: Security Analytics Platform Providers, Q4 2020. When we released Azure Sentinel almost a year ago—the industry’s first cloud-native SIEM on a major public cloud—our goal was to...

Announcing the Zero Trust Deployment Center

Organizations have been digitally transforming at warp speed in response to the way businesses operate and how people work. As a result, digital security teams have been under immense pressure to ensure their environments are resilient and secure. Many have turned to a Zero Trust security model t...

Security Unlocked—A new podcast exploring the people and AI that power Microsoft Security solutions

It’s hard to keep pace with all the changes happening in the world of cybersecurity. Security experts and leaders must continue learning and unlearning to stay ahead of the ever-evolving threat landscape. In fact, many of us are in this field because of our desire to continuously challenge...

Gartner announces the 2020 Magic Quadrant for Unified Endpoint Management

I’m excited to announce that, last week, Gartner listed Microsoft as a Leader in its 2020 Magic Quadrant for Unified Endpoint Management. You can read the entire report here, and you can see a snapshot of the Magic Quadrant below. You will note that we improved on both the “Ability to Execute” an...

Empower your analysts to reduce burnout in your security operations center

Effective cybersecurity starts with a skilled and empowered team. In a world with more remote workers and an evolving threat landscape, you need creative problem solvers defending your organization. Unfortunately, many traditional security organizations operate in a way that discourages growth,...

The science behind Microsoft Threat Protection: Attack modeling for finding and stopping evasive ransomware

The linchpin of successful cyberattacks, exemplified by nation state-level attacks and human-operated ransomware, is their ability to find the path of least resistance and progressively move across a compromised network. Determining the full scope and impact of these attacks is one the most...