Frozen in transit: Secret Blizzard’s AiTM campaign against diplomats

Microsoft Threat Intelligence has uncovered a cyberespionage campaign by the Russian state actor we track as Secret Blizzard that has been targeting embassies located in Moscow using an adversary-in-the-middle AiTM position to deploy their custom ApolloShadow malware. ApolloShadow has the...

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...

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...

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...

Securing our approach to domain fronting within Azure

Every single day our teams analyze the trillions of signals we see to understand attack vectors, and then take those learnings and apply them to our products and solutions. Having that understanding of the threat landscape is key to ensuring our customers are kept safe every day. However, being a...

The dynamic duo: How to build a red and blue team to strengthen your cybersecurity, Part 2

The security community is continuously changing, growing, and learning from each other to better position the world against cyber threats. In the first post of our new Voice of the Community blog series, Microsoft Product Marketing Manager Natalia Godyla talks with Jake Williams, Founder of...

Security guidance for remote desktop adoption

As the volume of remote workers quickly increased over the past two to three months, the IT teams in many companies scrambled to figure out how their infrastructures and technologies would be able to handle the increase in remote connections. Many companies were forced to enhance their capabiliti...

Jumpstart your Microsoft Graph Security API integration with the new JavaScript sample app

The Microsoft Graph Security API, which launched this spring, is a unified REST API for integrating data and intelligence from Microsoft products, services, and partners. Using Microsoft Graph, developers can easily build applications that consolidate and correlate security alerts from multiple...

Working towards a more diverse future in security

Last year I embarked on an exercise to examine diversity in cybersecurity. As one full year has passed, I decided to revisit this topic and the ongoing challenges of recruiting AND retaining diverse talent in the cybersecurity field. This past year saw the MeToo movement in the spotlight, and whi...

Accelerate your security deployment with FastTrack for Microsoft 365

This blog is part of a series that responds to common questions we receive from customers about Microsoft 365 Security and Enterprise Mobility + Security. In this series youll find context, answers, and guidance for deployment and driving adoption within your organization. Inpart one of this...

Threat actors misusing Quick Assist in social engineering attacks leading to ransomware

June 2024 update: At the end of May 2024, Microsoft Threat Intelligence observed Storm-1811 using Microsoft Teams as another vector to contact target users. Microsoft assesses that the threat actor uses Teams to send messages and initiate calls in an attempt to impersonate IT or help desk...

Microsoft Secure: Explore innovations transforming the future of security

Building a more secure future requires an end-to-end approach. There is no question that technology plays an essential role, but security will always be human-centered. That’s what Microsoft Secure is all about. It’s about sharing knowledge, best practices, and technology innovations that empower...

IIS modules: The evolution of web shells and how to detect them

Web exploitation and web shells are some of the most common entry points in the current threat landscape. Web servers provide an external avenue directly into your corporate network, which often results in web servers being an initial intrusion vector or mechanism of persistence. Monitoring for...

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...

Microsoft unifies SIEM and XDR to help stop advanced attacks

For all of us in security, the last twelve months have been an incredible series of challenges—from balancing remote work with family priorities, to helping build resilient businesses, and protecting against the latest attacks. 2020 showed us that while we have made great progress, there is still...

Modernizing your network security strategy

From the global pandemic to recent cyberattacks, our world has faced many challenges during the past 12 months. Some of these challenges we can’t change. However, I’m pleased about the ones we can, and are changing across the cybersecurity landscape. For example, to facilitate remote work and...

The dynamic duo: How to build a red and blue team to strengthen your cybersecurity, Part 1

The security community is continuously changing, growing, and learning from each other to better position the world against cyber threats. In the first post of our new Voice of the Community blog series, Microsoft Product Marketing Manager Natalia Godyla talks with Jake Williams, Founder of...

System Management Mode deep dive: How SMM isolation hardens the platform

Ensuring that the platform firmware is healthy and trustworthy is fundamental to guaranteeing that powerful platform security features like Hypervisor-protected code integrity HVCI and Windows Defender Credential Guard are functioning as expected. Windows 10 achieves this by leveraging a...

Go passwordless to strengthen security and reduce costs

We all know passwords are inherently unsecure. They’re also expensive to manage. Users struggle to remember them. It’s why we’re so passionate about eliminating passwords entirely. Passwordless solutions, such as Windows Hello, FIDO2 security keys, and the Microsoft Authenticator app, provide mor...

Delivering major enhancements in Windows Defender Application Control with the Windows 10 May 2019 Update

With the Windows 10 May 2019 Update we delivered several important features for Windows Defender Application Control WDAC, which was originally introduced to Windows as part of a scenario called Device Guard. WDAC works in conjunction with features like Windows Defender Application Guard, which...

4 tried-and-true prevention strategies for enterprise-level security

Why is it that dentists advise people over and over to floss, yet so few do it? It only takes a minute of your time, yet if you’re running late or feeling tired, you may be tempted to skip it. That is until you remember your upcoming teeth cleaning appointment. There is nothing like the memory of...

From the ground up to the cloud: Microsoft’s Intelligent Security supporting CISOs’ cloud transformation

Its no secret that Microsoft has embraced the cloud in a big wayfrom enterprise solutions like Microsoft Azure to Office 365 and Windows. But a recent research report by Forrester focuses on an equally important shift in our approach to securityintegrating workforce and cloud security in ways tha...

Using Zero Trust principles to protect against sophisticated attacks like Solorigate

The Solorigate supply chain attack has captured the focus of the world over the last month. This attack was simultaneously sophisticated and ordinary. The actor demonstrated sophistication in the breadth of tactics used to penetrate, expand across, and persist in affected infrastructure, but many...

Azure Active Directory empowers frontline workers with simplified and secure access

Howdy folks, The past year has shown us all just how critical frontline workers are to our communities and our economy. They’re the people behind the counter, in the call centers, in hospital ICUs, on the supermarket floor—doing the critical work that makes the difference in feeding our families,...

Full Operational Shutdown—another cybercrime case from the Microsoft Detection and Response Team

Recently, we published our first case report 001: …And Then There Were Six by the Microsoft Detection and Response Team DART. We received significant positive response from our customers and colleagues and our team has been getting inquiries asking for more reports. We are glad to share the DART...

Microsoft announces new innovations in security, compliance, and identity at Ignite

Today, at the Microsoft Ignite Conference, we’re announcing new innovations designed to help customers across their security, compliance, and identity needs. With so much going on at Ignite this week, I want to highlight the top 10 announcements: 1. Azure Sentinel—We’re introducing new connectors...

4 best practices to help you integrate security into DevOps

Microsoft’s transition of its corporate resources to the cloud required us to rethink how we integrate security into the agile development environment. In the old process, we often worked on 6- to 12-month development cycles for internal products. The security operations team was separate from th...

Security baselines should underpin efforts to manage cybersecurity risk across sectors

This post is authored byAngela McKay, Director of Cybersecurity Policy and Amanda Craig, Senior Cybersecurity Strategist, CELA. Organizations are leveraging technology to transform their operations, products, and services, and governments are increasingly focusing on how to enable such dynamic...

Poisoned peer-to-peer app kicked off Dofoil coin miner outbreak

On March 7, we reported that a massive Dofoil campaign attempted to install malicious cryptocurrency miners on hundreds of thousands of computers. Windows Defender Antivirus, with its behavior monitoring, machine learning technologies, and layered approach to security detected and blocked the...

Cyber Signals: Inside the growing risk of gift card fraud

In the ever-evolving landscape of cyberthreats, staying ahead of malicious actors is a constant challenge. Microsoft Threat Intelligence has observed that gift cards are attractive targets for fraud and social engineering practices. Unlike credit or debit cards, there’s no customer name or bank...

Star Blizzard increases sophistication and evasion in ongoing attacks

Microsoft Threat Intelligence continues to track and disrupt malicious activity attributed to a Russian state-sponsored actor we track as Star Blizzard formerly SEABORGIUM, also known as COLDRIVER and Callisto Group. Star Blizzard has improved their detection evasion capabilities since 2022 while...

Simplify privacy protection with Microsoft Priva Subject Rights Requests

The General Data Protection Regulation GDPR came into effect in 2018 and set a new standard for the level of control individuals in the European Union had on the personal data they shared online. Since then, the number of privacy regulations around the world has flourished and impacted the privac...

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...

Investigating a unique “form” of email delivery for IcedID malware

Microsoft threat analysts have been tracking activity where contact forms published on websites are abused to deliver malicious links to enterprises using emails with fake legal threats. The emails instruct recipients to click a link to review supposed evidence behind their allegations, but are...

Secure containerized environments with updated threat matrix for Kubernetes

Last April, we released the first version of the threat matrix for Kubernetes. It was the first attempt to systematically map the threat landscape of Kubernetes. As we described in the previous post, we chose to adapt the structure of MITRE ATT&CK® framework which, became almost an industry...

Finalists announced in second annual Microsoft Security 20/20 awards

2020 was a transformational year. Seemingly overnight, COVID-19 reshaped our perspective on work, home life, and security. Setting up home offices and powering through online presentations in our pajama bottoms with cameos by pets and children, our industry rose to the challenge. All that...

The biggest challenges—and important role—of application security

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...

New Forrester study shows customers who deploy Microsoft Azure AD benefit from 123% ROI.

Over the past six months, organizations around the world have accelerated digital transformation efforts to rapidly enable a remote workforce. As more employees than ever access apps via their home networks, the corporate network perimeter has truly disappeared, making identity the control plane...

Inside Microsoft Threat Protection: Correlating and consolidating attacks into incidents

Cybersecurity incidents are never contained to just one of your organization’s assets. Most attacks involve multiple elements across domains, including email, endpoints, identities, and applications. To rapidly understand and address incidents, your Security Operations Center SOC analysts need to...

CISO Stressbusters: Post #2: 4 tips for getting the first 6 months right as a new CISO

In your first six months in a new Chief Information Security Officer CISO role, you will often be tasked with building a security program. For some of us this is the most exciting part of the job, but it can also be stressful. You’re probably working under a deadline. Plus, it can be difficult to...

New privacy assessments now included in Microsoft Compliance Score

Keeping up with rapidly changing regulatory requirements has become one of the biggest challenge’s organizations face today. Just as companies finished preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR, California’s privacy regulation—California Consumer Privacy Act CCPA—went into effect ...

Data science for cybersecurity: A probabilistic time series model for detecting RDP inbound brute force attacks

Computers with Windows Remote Desktop Protocol RDP exposed to the internet are an attractive target for adversaries because they present a simple and effective way to gain access to a network. Brute forcing RDP, a secure network communications protocol that provides remote access over port 3389,...

Spear phishing campaigns—they’re sharper than you think

Even your most security-savvy users may have difficulty identifying honed spear phishing campaigns. Unlike traditional phishing campaigns that are blasted to a large email list in hopes that just one person will bite, advanced spear phishing campaigns are highly targeted and personal. They are so...

Adding transparency and context into industry AV test results

Corporate Vice President Brad Anderson recently shared his insights on how Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection Windows Defender ATP evolved to achieve important quality milestones. Our Windows Defender ATP team is committed to delivering industry-leading protection, customer choice, and...

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...

How to protect your CAD data files with MIP and HALOCAD

This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association guest blog series. Learn more about MISA. Computer-aided design CAD files are used by design professionals in the manufacturing, engineering, architecture, surveying, and construction industries. These highly valuable files...

The evolution of a matrix: How ATT&CK for Containers was built

Note: The content of this post is being released jointly with the Center for Threat-Informed Defense. It is co-authored with Chris Ante and Matthew Bajzek. The Center post can be found here. As containers become a major part of many organizations’ IT workloads, it becomes crucial to consider the...

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...

Afternoon Cyber Tea: Cybersecurity has become a pillar of the business

In a famous two-part episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Captain Jean-Luc Picard is captured by the Cardassians. During a pivotal scene, a Cardassian interrogator shows Picard four bright lights and demands that he “see” five lights. Picard resists, culminating with him shouting, “There...

Microsoft identity acronyms—what do they mean and how do they relate to each other?

As a security advisor working with one to three Chief Information Security Officers CISOs each week, the topic of identity comes up often. These are smart people who have often been in industry for decades. They have their own vocabulary of acronyms that only security professionals know such as...