New whitepaper outlines the taxonomy of failure modes in AI agents

We are releasing a taxonomy of failure modes in AI agents to help security professionals and machine learning engineers think through how AI systems can fail and design them with safety and security in mind. The taxonomy continues Microsoft AI Red Team's work to lead the creation of systematizati...

​​Expanding cloud logging to give customers deeper security visibility

In response to the increasing frequency and evolution of nation-state cyberthreats, Microsoft is taking additional steps to protect our customers and increase the secure-by-default baseline of our cloud platforms. These steps are the result of close coordination with commercial and government...

Forrester names Microsoft a Leader in 2023 Infrastructure-as-a-Service Platform Native Security report

As we continue to drive toward making the world safer and more productive for all, it is vital we empower our customers to secure every aspect of their organization. Each day we are seeing more advanced security threats as bad actors develop new tactics that aim to take advantage of businesses as...

Why you should practice rollbacks to prevent data loss in a ransomware attack

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 Tanya Janca, Founder...

2022 in review: DDoS attack trends and insights

As organizations strengthen their defenses and take a more proactive approach to protection, attackers are adapting their techniques and increasing the sophistication of their operations. Cybercrime continues to rise with the industrialization of the cybercrime economy providing cybercriminals wi...

Introducing Adaptive Protection in Microsoft Purview—People-centric data protection for a multiplatform world

At Microsoft, we never stop working to protect you and your data. If the evolving cyberattacks over the past three years have taught us anything, it’s that threat actors are both cunning and committed. At every level of your enterprise, attackers never stop looking for a way in. The massive...

Stopping C2 communications in human-operated ransomware through network protection

Command-and-control C2 servers are an essential part of ransomware, commodity, and nation-state attacks. They are used to control infected devices and perform malicious activities like downloading and launching payloads, controlling botnets, or commanding post-exploitation penetration frameworks ...

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...

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...

So you want to be a CISO: What you should know about data protection

Data is the lifeblood of any organization. Whether you’re a Chief Information Security Officer CISO or aspiring to become one, protecting sensitive business data will be your main priority. But the job isn’t getting any easier. In 2021, the number of data breaches climbed 68 percent to 1,862,...

How a senior product manager is leading the passwordless movement at Microsoft

May 5, 2022, is World Password Day, a day we all use to create awareness around password security. At Microsoft, we choose to celebrate replacing passwords with better and more secure ways to sign in. I can’t think of a better person at Microsoft to represent this journey than Libby Brown, a seni...

Microsoft achieves a Leader placement in Forrester Wave for XDR

We are excited to share that Microsoft has been named a Leader in The Forrester New Wave: Extended Detection and Response XDR, Q4, 2021,1 receiving one of the highest scores in the strategy category. Microsoft 365 Defender was rated as “differentiated” in seven criteria including detection,...

Enable secure remote work, address regulations and uncover new risks with Microsoft Compliance

As we talk with a broad range of customers in the current environment, we hear some consistent challenges businesses are facing. With so many remote workers, people are creating, sharing, and storing data in new ways, which fosters productivity, but can also introduce new risks. A recent Microsof...

Secure access to your enterprise with Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5

Most lessons in cybersecurity are born out of necessity. In this case, it was my need for a haircut. Last weekend, I was reminded why it’s time to rethink the conventional wisdom about secure passwords and user access. I was making an appointment online and at the very end of the process, the...

Why the Pipeline Cybersecurity Initiative is a critical step

It’s well known by now that pipeline attacks and attacks on utilities of all kinds have been an unfortunately well-trodden path by cyber-adversaries in numerous countries for a few years now. These types of attacks are not theoretical, and the damage done to date—as well as the potential damage—i...

New Forrester Total Economic Impact™ study projects a 124% ROI from unifying with Microsoft Security

Across many industries, organizations are unifying security and putting AI agents to work. Security teams are utilizing agents that reason, decide, and act on their behalf, under their governance. At Microsoft, we see this firsthand—more than 80% of the Fortune 500 are already using AI.1 The...

Crypto Clipper uses Tor and worm-like propagation for persistence and control

In this article 1. Attack chain overview 2. Mitigation and protection guidance 3. References 4. Learn more Microsoft Threat Intelligence and Microsoft Defender Experts identified a Windows-based cryptocurrency clipper that has affected users since February of 2026. Clipper malware relies on...

Making opportunistic cyberattacks harder by design

This is part of a series of blogs and interviews conducted with our Microsoft Deputy CISOs , in which we surface a number of mission-critical security recommendations and best practices that businesses can enact right now and derive real meaningful benefits from. In this article, Ilya Grebnov,...

Investigating Storm-2755: “Payroll pirate” attacks targeting Canadian employees

In this article 1. Storm-2755’s attack chain 2. Defending against Storm-2755 and AiTM campaigns 3. Microsoft Defender detection and hunting guidance 4. Indicators of compromise Microsoft Incident Response – Detection and Response Team DART researchers observed an emerging, financially motivated...

Detecting backdoored language models at scale

Today, we are releasing new research on detecting backdoors in open-weight language models. Our research highlights several key properties of language model backdoors, laying the groundwork for a practical scanner designed to detect backdoored models at scale and improve overall trust in AI...

Marbled Dust leverages zero-day in Output Messenger for regional espionage

Since April 2024, the threat actor that Microsoft Threat Intelligence tracks as Marbled Dust has been observed exploiting user accounts that have not applied fixes to a zero-day vulnerability CVE-2025-27920 in the messaging app Output Messenger, a multiplatform chat software. These exploits have...

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...

Microsoft Purview data security mitigations for BazaCall and other human-operated data exfiltration attacks

I recently worked with an enterprise customer who experienced a data exfiltration attack using the characteristics of the BazaCall campaign. BazaCall can be both a ransomware and data exfiltration attack that are used together to increase pressure on and damage to the victim. Microsoft Purview ha...

Microsoft Inspire: Partner resources to prepare for the future of security with AI

Cybersecurity is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. With an ever-changing threat landscape and siloed data across multiple security point solutions, defenders have limited visibility. It’s difficult to stay current and find cybersecurity professionals amid the global talent shortage...

Do more with less—Discover the latest Microsoft Entra innovations

It has certainly been another intense year. From the ongoing pandemic to the Great Reshuffle to economic uncertainty, it’s truly felt like the only constant is change.1 In this economy, many organizations are looking for efficiencies. This is putting pressure on security teams, along with everyon...

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...

Discover 5 lessons Microsoft has learned about compliance management

Compliance management is a complex process—one that gets increasingly more complicated the larger an organization grows. Microsoft knows this firsthand, not only because of our experience providing Security and Compliance solutions to customers but also because of the global reach and...

Microsoft launches Defender for Business to help protect small and medium businesses

Happy National Small Business Week1 in the United States! Small and medium businesses SMBs are the bedrock of our economy, representing 90 percent of businesses and more than 50 percent of employment worldwide.2 As we celebrate their innovation and contributions this week, it’s important to...

A clearer lens on Zero Trust security strategy: Part 1

Todays world is flooded with definitions and perspectives on Zero Trust, so we are kicking off a blog series to bring clarity to what Zero Trust is and what it means. This first blog will draw on the past, present, and future to bring a clear vision while keeping our feet planted firmly on the...

What’s Next in Security from Microsoft

One of the biggest challenges in security today is complexity. Not only is there an ever-growing number of threats, but many organizations are defending their companies with a patchwork of security solutions that don’t work well together. This piecemeal approach is costly, less secure, and hinder...

Stay safe online this holiday shopping season with tips from Microsoft

You may have already noticed this holiday shopping season feels different than those we’ve had before. Headlines about supply chain issues, worker shortages, costs rising—all while the pandemic continues to impact our lives. In my own inbox, I saw emails from brands touting Black Friday sales as...

How Open Systems uses Microsoft tools to improve security maturity

This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association guest blog series. Learn more about MISA. We’ve all seen it happen—an organization has all the top-notch security tools in place and still, they get breached. In today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape, complexity leads to...

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”...

Identity at Microsoft Ignite: Rising to the challenges of secure remote access and employee productivity

These past months have changed the way we work in so many ways. When businesses and schools went remote overnight, many of you had to adapt quickly to ensure your users could stay productive while working from home. Bad actors are trying to exploit these seismic shifts, making it more important...

New study shows customers save time, resources and improve security with Microsoft Cloud App Security

The global pandemic has forever changed our workplaces and reshaped our cybersecurity priorities. While in recent months cloud apps have helped people around the globe stay productive and connected. They also pose an increased cybersecurity risk to businesses large and small, especially when you...

Updates for Microsoft 365 help strengthen data privacy

As data continues to grow exponentially and travel across organizational boundaries, privacy and compliance professionals play an increasingly strategic role within organizations. Several updates—announced today—for Microsoft 365 provide organizations with more control and options to strengthen...

The evolution of Microsoft Threat Protection, February update

February is an exciting month of enhancements for Microsoft Threat Protection. For those who have followed our monthly updates November, December, and January, you’re aware that Microsoft Threat Protection helps provide users optimal security from the moment they sign in, use email, work on...

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...

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...

Building your cryptographic inventory: A customer strategy for cryptographic posture management

Post-quantum cryptography PQC is coming—and for most organizations, the hardest part won’t be choosing new algorithms. It will be finding where cryptography is used today across applications, infrastructure, devices, and services so teams can plan, prioritize, and modernize with confidence. At...

Guidance for detecting, investigating, and defending against the Trivy supply chain compromise

In this article 1. Analyzing the Trivy supply chain compromise 2. Detection and investigation 3. Mitigation and protection guidance 4. Advanced hunting queries 5. References 6. Learn more On March 19, 2026, Trivy, Aqua Security’s widely used open-source vulnerability scanner, was reported to have...

Infostealers without borders: macOS, Python stealers, and platform abuse

Infostealer threats are rapidly expanding beyond traditional Windows-focused campaigns, increasingly targeting macOS environments, leveraging cross-platform languages such as Python, and abusing trusted platforms and utilities to silently deliver credential-stealing malware at scale. Since late...

New Microsoft Data Security Index report explores secure AI adoption to protect sensitive data

Generative AI and agentic AI are redefining how organizations innovate and operate, unlocking new levels of productivity, creativity and collaboration across industry teams. From accelerating content creation to streamlining workflows, AI offers transformative benefits that empower organizations ...

Microsoft is named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Endpoint Protection Platforms

Since 2022, the number of human-operated ransomware-linked encounters by organizations surged by 2.75x. Yet, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint has outpaced this rise, reducing the number of successful attacks by 3x, proving its power to turn the tide against evolving cyberthreats.1 Defender for...

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...

Faster, more personalized service begins at the frontline with Microsoft Intune

In healthcare, patient trust often begins at the frontline with people who deliver care, respond to questions, and manage crucial in-the-moment decisions. Increasingly, those experiences are shaped by the tools frontline workers use. When devices are secure, responsive, and tailored to clinical...

Understanding the threat landscape for Kubernetes and containerized assets

The dynamic nature of containers can make it challenging for security teams to detect runtime anomalies or pinpoint the source of a security incident, presenting an opportunity for attackers to stay undetected. Microsoft Threat Intelligence has observed threat actors taking advantage of unsecured...

AI jailbreaks: What they are and how they can be mitigated

Generative AI systems are made up of multiple components that interact to provide a rich user experience between the human and the AI models. As part of a responsible AI approach, AI models are protected by layers of defense mechanisms to prevent the production of harmful content or being used to...

Automatic disruption of human-operated attacks through containment of compromised user accounts

Our experience and insights from real-world incidents tell us that the swift containment of compromised user accounts is key to disrupting hands-on-keyboard attacks, especially those that involve human-operated ransomware. In these attacks, lateral movement follows initial access as the next...

SEC cyber risk management rule—a security and compliance opportunity

In my practice as a Microsoft Global Black Belt, I focus on the technical and business enablement aspects of protecting organizations from cyber threats with tools like Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Purview and Microsoft Sentinel. In my role as a board member for another publicly traded...