How to build forward-thinking cybersecurity teams for tomorrow

We are witnessing something unprecedented in cybersecurity: the democratization of advanced cyberattack capabilities. What once required nation-state resources sophisticated social engineering, polymorphic malware, coordinated infrastructure now fits in a prompt window. AI is no longer a futurist...

How to build forward-thinking cybersecurity teams for tomorrow

We are witnessing something unprecedented in cybersecurity: the democratization of advanced cyberattack capabilities. What once required nation-state resources sophisticated social engineering, polymorphic malware, coordinated infrastructure now fits in a prompt window. AI is no longer a futurist...

​​Securing our future: November 2025 progress report on Microsoft’s Secure Future Initiative ​​

When we launched the Secure Future Initiative SFI, our mission was clear: accelerate innovation, strengthen resilience, and lead the industry toward a safer digital future. Today, we’re sharing our latest progress report that reflects steady progress in every area and engineering pillar,...

The 5 generative AI security threats you need to know about detailed in new e-book

Generative AI is reshaping the way security teams operate—accelerating threat detection, automating workflows, and enabling scale. But as defenders embrace AI to strengthen their posture, cyberattackers are doing the same to evolve faster than traditional defenses can adapt. Microsoft’s 2025...

Inside the attack chain: Threat activity targeting Azure Blob Storage

Azure Blob Storage, like any object data service, is a high-value target for threat actors due to its critical role in storing and managing massive amounts of unstructured data at scale across diverse workloads. Organizations of all sizes use Blob Storage to support key workloads—such as AI, high...

The importance of hardening customer support tools against cyberattacks

The Deputy CISO blog series is whereMicrosoft Deputy Chief Information Security Officers CISOs share their thoughts on what is most important in their respective domains. In this series, you will get practical advice, tactics to start and stop deploying, forward-looking commentary on where the...

Building a lasting security culture at Microsoft

At Microsoft, building a lasting security culture is more than a strategic priority—it is a call to action. Security begins and ends with people, which is why every employee plays a critical role in protecting both Microsoft and our customers. When secure practices are woven into how we think,...

Inside Microsoft Threat Intelligence: Calm in the chaos

Leading Through the Worst Day Incident response is never orderly. Threat actors don’t wait. Environments are compromised. Data is missing. Confidence is shaken. But for Microsoft’s Incident Response IR team, that chaos is exactly where the work begins. In Episode 1, we showed how Microsoft Threat...

Empowering defenders in the era of agentic AI with Microsoft Sentinel

Microsoft unveils a new wave of security innovation—delivering an agentic platform to protect organizations at scale We are living through a turning point in how organizations work and defend themselves. Across industries, “Frontier Firms” are emerging; these are businesses where humans and AI...

Microsoft Purview delivered 30% reduction in data breach likelihood

In today’s digital-first world, data is both an asset and a liability. As organizations scale their use of cloud platforms, AI, and remote collaboration tools, the complexity of managing data security, data privacy, and regulatory compliance grows exponentially. For organizations, the challenge i...

Microsoft Defender delivered 242% return on investment over three years​​

The latest Forrester Total Economic Impact™ TEI study reveals a 242% return on investment ROI over three years for organizations that chose Microsoft Defender. It helps security leaders consolidate tools, reduce overhead, and empower their security operations SecOps teams with operational...

Microsoft Purview innovations for your Fabric data: Unify data security and governance for the AI era

The Microsoft Fabric and Purview teams are thrilled to participate in the European Microsoft Fabric Community Conference September 15-18, 2025, in Vienna, Austria. This event is Microsoft’s largest tech conference in Europe, where data professionals gather to connect and share insights on data,...

Storm-0501’s evolving techniques lead to cloud-based ransomware

Microsoft Threat Intelligence has observed financially motivated threat actor Storm-0501 continuously evolving their campaigns to achieve sharpened focus on cloud-based tactics, techniques, and procedures TTPs. While the threat actor has been known for targeting hybrid cloud environments, their...

Dissecting PipeMagic: Inside the architecture of a modular backdoor framework

Among the plethora of advanced attacker tools that exemplify how threat actors continuously evolve their tactics, techniques, and procedures TTPs to evade detection and maximize impact, PipeMagic, a highly modular backdoor used by Storm-2460 masquerading as a legitimate open-source ChatGPT Deskto...

Announcing public preview: Phishing triage agent in Microsoft Defender

Intelligent triage for a more agile, autonomous SOC At Microsoft Secure 2025, we introduced a new wave of innovations across Microsoft Defender aimed at redefining what AI can do for security operations. At the center of these announcements was the launch of 11 Security Copilot agents, each...

Modernize your identity defense with Microsoft Identity Threat Detection and Response

In today’s fast-evolving landscape, where businesses balance on-premises systems and cloud resources, identity-based cyberthreats are growing more frequent and sophisticated. The question isn’t whether an identity attack will occur—but when. The numbers are staggering: In 2024 Microsoft saw an...

Microsoft announces the 2025 Security Excellence Awards winners

In today’s rapidly evolving digital world, security requires a global community of defenders working together as a team to build a safer world for all. That’s why we’re thrilled to recognize the extraordinary individuals and organizations who have gone above and beyond in the fight against...

How one Microsoft software engineer works to improve access management

There’s still a perception that the most successful computer scientists learn programming at a young age, study engineering at a top school, and then get a software development job right out of college. While that’s how many people enter the field, it’s not the only path. Microsoft Software...

How to disrupt attacks caused by social engineering

This post is authored by Milad Aslaner, Senior Program Manager, Windows & Devices Group. A decade ago, most cyber-attacks started with a piece of malware or a complex method to directly attack the infrastructure of a company. But this picture has changed and today all it takes is a sophisticated...

Insights from the 2026 Microsoft Digital Defense Report

Every year, the Microsoft Digital Defense Report gives us an opportunity to step back from individual threats and look broadly at what Microsoft’s security and threat intelligence teams are seeing. Today, we released the 2026 Report, which reflects a security environment that continues to grow mo...

Microsoft named a Leader in the 2026 IDC MarketScape for MDR/MXDR for the Enterprise

Security teams are being asked to defend a growing attack surface with fewer people and around the clock, against threat actors who never take a night off. As cyberattackers increasingly use AI to launch and scale campaigns, the volume, speed, and sophistication of threats continue to rise. Closi...

​​​​What’s new in Microsoft Security: July 2026

Every organization needs security that protects end to end with the speed and scale of AI. Microsoft’s vision is simple: security should be ambient and autonomous, just like the AI it protects. As organizations scale AI and expand across environments, security teams need protection that covers...

Rethinking security for the age of AI

Why security needs a new Cyber Stack — Introducing Project Perception The physics of cybersecurity are changing. Autonomous systems can now reason, adapt and operate continuously. At the same time, the cost of offense is falling, while the volume, velocity and complexity of what must be secured...

Real world incident response: Microsoft and AXA XL strengthen cyber resilience

Cyber incidents don't wait—and effective response can’t either. In the age of AI where cyber incidents unfold at machine speed, having the right partnerships in place becomes paramount. While AI is expanding what's possible, navigating this transformation can be challenging to do alone. That's wh...

Containing a domain compromise: How predictive shielding shut down lateral movement

In this article 1. Predictive shielding overview 2. Attack chain overview 3. How predictive shielding changed the outcome 4. MITRE ATT&CK® techniques observed 5. Learn more In identity-based attack campaigns, any initial access activity can turn an already serious intrusion into a critical incide...

Identity security is the new pressure point for modern cyberattacks

Identity attacks no longer hinge on who a cyberattacker compromises, but on what that identity can access. As organizations manage growing numbers of human, non-human, and agentic identities, their access fabric multiplies across apps, resources, and environments, which increases both operational...

Observability for AI Systems: Strengthening visibility for proactive risk detection

Adoption of Generative AI GenAI and agentic AI has accelerated from experimentation into real enterprise deployments. What began with copilots and chat interfaces has quickly evolved into powerful business systems that autonomously interact with sensitive data, call external APIs, connect to...

Detecting and mitigating common agent misconfigurations

Organizations are rapidly adopting agents, but attackers are equally fast at exploiting misconfigured AI workflows. Mis-sharing, unsafe orchestration, and weak authentication create new identity and data‑access paths that traditional controls don’t monitor. As agents become integrated into...

Security strategies for safeguarding governmental data

The Deputy CISO blog series is where Microsoft Deputy Chief Information Security Officers CISOs share their thoughts on what is most important in their respective domains. In this series, you will get practical advice, tactics to start and stop deploying, forward-looking commentary on where the...

Microsoft Security success stories: Why integrated security is the foundation of AI transformation

AI is transforming how organizations operate and how they approach security. In this new era of agentic AI, every interaction, digital or human, must be built on trust. As businesses modernize, they’re not just adopting AI tools, they're rearchitecting their digital foundations. And that means...

Resurgence of a multi‑stage AiTM phishing and BEC campaign abusing SharePoint

Microsoft Defender Researchers uncovered a multi‑stage adversary‑in‑the‑middle AiTM phishing and business email compromise BEC campaign targeting multiple organizations in the energy sector, resulting in the compromise of various user accounts. The campaign abused SharePoint file‑sharing services...

Microsoft named a Leader in IDC MarketScape for Unified AI Governance Platforms

As organizations rapidly embrace generative and agentic AI, ensuring robust, unified governance has never been more critical. That’s why Microsoft is honored to be named a Leader in the2025-2026 IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Unified AI Governance Platforms Vendor Assessment US53514825, December...

Explore the latest Microsoft Incident Response proactive services for enhanced resilience

As cyberthreats become faster, harder to detect, and more sophisticated, organizations must focus on building resilience—strengthening their ability to prevent, withstand, and recover from cybersecurity incidents. Resilience can mean the difference between containing an incident with minimal...

Agents built into your workflow: Get Security Copilot with Microsoft 365 E5

The cybersecurity landscape is at a historic inflection point. As cyberattackers wield AI to automate cyberattacks at extraordinary speed and scale, the challenge before us is not just to keep pace—but to leap ahead. There are over four million unfilled cybersecurity jobs, so depending solely on...

​​Whisper Leak: A novel side-channel attack on remote language models

Microsoft has discovered a new type of side-channel attack on remote language models. This type of side-channel attack could allow a cyberattacker a position to observe your network traffic to conclude language model conversation topics, despite being end-to-end encrypted via Transport Layer...

SesameOp: Novel backdoor uses OpenAI Assistants API for command and control

Microsoft Incident Response – Detection and Response Team DART researchers uncovered a new backdoor that is notable for its novel use of the OpenAI Assistants Application Programming Interface API as a mechanism for command-and-control C2 communications. Instead of relying on more traditional...

Securing agentic AI: Your guide to the Microsoft Ignite sessions catalog

Security is a core focus at Microsoft Ignite 2025, reflected in dedicated sessions and hands-on experiences designed for security professionals and leaders. Whether you’re shaping strategy or working on the front lines, Microsoft Ignite offers direct access to the latest advancements and practica...

Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Security starts with you

At Microsoft, security is our number one priority, and we believe that cybersecurity is as much about people as it is about technology. As we move into October and kick off Cybersecurity Awareness Month, this time of year really makes me think about how important online safety is—not just at work...

Quantum-safe security: Progress towards next-generation cryptography

Quantum computing promises transformative advancements, yet it also poses a very real risk to today’s cryptographic security. In the future scalable quantum computing could break public-key cryptography methods currently in use and undermine digital signatures, resulting in compromised...

Microsoft Entra Suite delivers 131% ROI by unifying identity and network access

In today’s AI-first world, identity and network access are the first touchpoints for enforcing least privilege and protecting against sophisticated, identity-based attacks—but for many organizations, that defense is fragmented. Siloed teams and disconnected tools create security gaps, operational...

​​Forrester names Microsoft a Leader in the 2025 Zero Trust Platforms Wave™ report

We are proud to share that Forrester has named Microsoft a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Zero Trust Platforms, Q3 2025 report, ranking us highest in the strategy category. With so many strong vendors and solutions in the Zero Trust space, you need solid data to make the right choice for your...

Microsoft expands Zero Trust workshop to cover network, SecOps, and more

Building on identity, devices, and data, the workshop now covers network, infrastructure, and SecOps As the nature of cyberthreats and security challenges evolve, organizations have coalesced around a Zero Trust architecture as the approach to modernize their end-to-end security adoption and...

StilachiRAT analysis: From system reconnaissance to cryptocurrency theft

In November 2024, Microsoft Incident Response researchers uncovered a novel remote access trojan RAT we named StilachiRAT that demonstrates sophisticated techniques to evade detection, persist in the target environment, and exfiltrate sensitive data. Analysis of the StilachiRAT’s...

Women’s History Month: Why different perspectives in cybersecurity and AI matter more than ever before

This Women’s History Month serves as a crucial moment for us to lead and continue to pave the way for a more inclusive future. I am truly honored to support my amazing women colleagues who continue to excel in their careers and am grateful to have so many allies who have extended their hands to...

Cyber Signals: Sporting events and venues draw cyberthreats at increasing rates

Today we released the fifth edition of Cyber Signals, spotlighting threats to large venues, and sporting and entertainment events, based on our learnings and telemetry from delivering cybersecurity support to critical infrastructure facilities during the State of Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA World...

From guidance to action: Security fundamentals that materially reduce risk

AI has already made fundamental changes to the operating environment for cybersecurity. Cyberattackers are testing more paths, adapting their techniques, and moving across digital environments with greater speed and persistence. The weaknesses they exploit remain familiar: excessive permissions,...

​​​​​​What’s new in Microsoft Security: August 2026

As organizations incorporate AI agents into more processes across business and operations, security teams can benefit from greater visibility and new purpose-built tools that help manage, secure, and govern AI. This month’s updates provide new capabilities to help organizations gain insights into...

From open lures to cloaked gates: How a macOS ClickFix campaign learned to hide

In this article 1. Activity overview 2. How ClickFix works 3. Campaign overview 4. ClickFix moved from open pages to fingerprinting gates 5. The fingerprinting gate 6. Mitigation and protection guidance 7. Indicators of compromise IOC 8. References 9. Learn more Microsoft Threat Intelligence...

Real world incident response: Microsoft and AXA XL strengthen cyber resilience

Cyber incidents don't wait—and effective response can’t either. In the age of AI where cyber incidents unfold at machine speed, having the right partnerships in place becomes paramount. While AI is expanding what's possible, navigating this transformation can be challenging to do alone. That's wh...

Turning threat intelligence into decisive action with Defender Experts

In this article 1. Upstream: See the campaign before it reaches you 1. In your environment: Follow the threat everywhere it moves 2. See it live at Black Hat USA Security teams have never had more visibility, yet rarely have they felt more uncertain. Signal pours in from endpoints, identities,...