1630 matches found
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...
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...
Women’s History Month: Encouraging women in cybersecurity at every career stage
Women’s History Month—and International Women’s Day on March 8, 2026—always gives me pause for reflection. It’s a moment to think about how far we’ve come and think about who we choose to uplift as we look ahead. Throughout my career, I’ve been inspired by extraordinary women leaders—trailblazers...
Malicious AI Assistant Extensions Harvest LLM Chat Histories
Microsoft Defender has been investigating reports of malicious Chromium‑based browser extensions that impersonate legitimate AI assistant tools to harvest LLM chat histories and browsing data. Reporting indicates these extensions have reached approximately 900,000 installs. Microsoft Defender...
Malicious AI Assistant Extensions Harvest LLM Chat Histories
Microsoft Defender has been investigating reports of malicious Chromium‑based browser extensions that impersonate legitimate AI assistant tools to harvest LLM chat histories and browsing data. Reporting indicates these extensions have reached approximately 900,000 installs. Microsoft Defender...
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...
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...
Signed malware impersonating workplace apps deploys RMM backdoors
In February 2026, Microsoft Defender Experts identified multiple phishing campaigns attributed to an unknown threat actor. The campaigns used workplace meeting lures, PDF attachments, and abuse of legitimate binaries to deliver signed malware. Phishing emails directed users to download malicious...
Signed malware impersonating workplace apps deploys RMM backdoors
In February 2026, Microsoft Defender Experts identified multiple phishing campaigns attributed to an unknown threat actor. The campaigns used workplace meeting lures, PDF attachments, and abuse of legitimate binaries to deliver signed malware. Phishing emails directed users to download malicious...
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...
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...
Threat modeling AI applications
Proactively identifying, assessing, and addressing risk in AI systems We cannot anticipate every misuse or emergent behavior in AI systems. We can , however, identify what can go wrong, assess how bad it could be, and design systems that help reduce the likelihood or impact of those failure modes...
Threat modeling AI applications
Proactively identifying, assessing, and addressing risk in AI systems We cannot anticipate every misuse or emergent behavior in AI systems. We can , however, identify what can go wrong, assess how bad it could be, and design systems that help reduce the likelihood or impact of those failure modes...
Developer-targeting campaign using malicious Next.js repositories
Microsoft Defender Experts identified a coordinated developer-targeting campaign delivered through malicious repositories disguised as legitimate Next.js projects and technical assessment materials. Telemetry collected during this investigation indicates the activity aligns with a broader cluster...
Developer-targeting campaign using malicious Next.js repositories
Microsoft Defender Experts identified a coordinated developer-targeting campaign delivered through malicious repositories disguised as legitimate Next.js projects and technical assessment materials. Telemetry collected during this investigation indicates the activity aligns with a broader cluster...
Scaling security operations with Microsoft Defender autonomous defense and expert-led services
Today’s security leaders are operating in an environment of truncated cyberattack timelines with aging defenses built for slower, linear cyberthreats that can no longer keep pace with advanced cyberthreats. AI-powered threat actors now use social engineering and malware that adapt in real time,...
New e-book: Establishing a proactive defense with Microsoft Security Exposure Management
Effective exposure management begins by illuminating and hardening risks across the entire attack surface. Some of the most meaningful shifts in security happen quietly—when teams take a clear look at their exposure landscape and acknowledge the gap between where they stand today and where they...
New e-book: Establishing a proactive defense with Microsoft Security Exposure Management
Effective exposure management begins by illuminating and hardening risks across the entire attack surface. Some of the most meaningful shifts in security happen quietly—when teams take a clear look at their exposure landscape and acknowledge the gap between where they stand today and where they...
Running OpenClaw safely: identity, isolation, and runtime risk
Self-hosted agent runtimes like OpenClaw are showing up fast in enterprise pilots, and they introduce a blunt reality: OpenClaw includes limited built-in security controls. The runtime can ingest untrusted text, download and execute skills i.e. code from external sources, and perform actions usin...
Running OpenClaw safely: identity, isolation, and runtime risk
Self-hosted agent runtimes like OpenClaw are showing up fast in enterprise pilots, and they introduce a blunt reality: OpenClaw includes limited built-in security controls. The runtime can ingest untrusted text, download and execute skills i.e. code from external sources, and perform actions usin...
Unify now or pay later: New research exposes the operational cost of a fragmented SOC
Security operations are entering a pivotal moment: the operating model that grew around network logs and phishing emails is now buckling under tool sprawl, manual triage, and threat actors that outpace defender capacity. New research from Microsoft and Omdia shows just how heavy the burden can...
Unify now or pay later: New research exposes the operational cost of a fragmented SOC
Security operations are entering a pivotal moment: the operating model that grew around network logs and phishing emails is now buckling under tool sprawl, manual triage, and threat actors that outpace defender capacity. New research from Microsoft and Omdia shows just how heavy the burden can...
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...
Top 10 actions to build agents securely with Microsoft Copilot Studio
Organizations are rapidly adopting Copilot Studio agents, but threat actors 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 AI agents become...
Your complete guide to Microsoft experiences at RSAC™ 2026 Conference
The era of AI is reshaping both opportunity and risk faster than any shift security leaders have seen. Every organization is feeling the momentum; and for security teams, the question is no longer if AI will transform their work, but how to stay ahead of what comes next. At Microsoft, we see this...
The strategic SIEM buyer’s guide: Choosing an AI-ready platform for the agentic era
As the agentic era reshapes security operations, leaders face a strategic inflection point: legacy security information and event management SIEM solutions and fragmented toolchains can no longer keep pace with the scale, speed, and complexity of modern cyberthreats. Organizations can choose to...
The strategic SIEM buyer’s guide: Choosing an AI-ready platform for the agentic era
As the agentic era reshapes security operations, leaders face a strategic inflection point: legacy security information and event management SIEM solutions and fragmented toolchains can no longer keep pace with the scale, speed, and complexity of modern cyberthreats. Organizations can choose to...
80% of Fortune 500 use active AI Agents: Observability, governance, and security shape the new frontier
Today, Microsoft is releasing the new Cyber Pulse report to provide leaders with straightforward, practical insights and guidance on new cybersecurity risks. One of today’s most pressing concerns is the governance of AI and autonomous agents. AI agents are scaling faster than some companies can s...
80% of Fortune 500 use active AI Agents: Observability, governance, and security shape the new frontier
Today, Microsoft is releasing the new Cyber Pulse report to provide leaders with straightforward, practical insights and guidance on new cybersecurity risks. One of today’s most pressing concerns is the governance of AI and autonomous agents. AI agents are scaling faster than some companies can s...
Manipulating AI memory for profit: The rise of AI Recommendation Poisoning
That helpful "Summarize with AI" button? It might be secretly manipulating what your AI recommends. Microsoft security researchers have discovered a growing trend of AI memory poisoning attacks used for promotional purposes, a technique we call AI Recommendation Poisoning. Companies are embedding...
Manipulating AI memory for profit: The rise of AI Recommendation Poisoning
That helpful "Summarize with AI" button? It might be secretly manipulating what your AI recommends. Microsoft security researchers have discovered a growing trend of AI memory poisoning attacks used for promotional purposes, a technique we call AI Recommendation Poisoning. Companies are embedding...
A one-prompt attack that breaks LLM safety alignment
Large language models LLMs and diffusion models now power a wide range of applications, from document assistance to text-to-image generation, and users increasingly expect these systems to be safety-aligned by default. Yet safety alignment is only as robust as its weakest failure mode. Despite...
A one-prompt attack that breaks LLM safety alignment
Large language models LLMs and diffusion models now power a wide range of applications, from document assistance to text-to-image generation, and users increasingly expect these systems to be safety-aligned by default. Yet safety alignment is only as robust as its weakest failure mode. Despite...
Analysis of active exploitation of SolarWinds Web Help Desk
The Microsoft Defender Research Team observed a multi‑stage intrusion where threat actors exploited internet‑exposed SolarWinds Web Help Desk WHD instances to get an initial foothold and then laterally moved towards other high-value assets within the organization. However, we have not yet confirm...
Analysis of active exploitation of SolarWinds Web Help Desk
The Microsoft Defender Research Team observed a multi‑stage intrusion where threat actors exploited internet‑exposed SolarWinds Web Help Desk WHD instances to get an initial foothold and then laterally moved towards other high-value assets within the organization. However, we have not yet confirm...
New Clickfix variant ‘CrashFix’ deploying Python Remote Access Trojan
In January 2026, Microsoft Defender Experts identified a new evolution in the ongoing ClickFix campaign. This updated tactic deliberately crashes victims’ browsers and then attempts to lure users into executing malicious commands under the pretext of restoring normal functionality. This variant...
New Clickfix variant ‘CrashFix’ deploying Python Remote Access Trojan
In January 2026, Microsoft Defender Experts identified a new evolution in the ongoing ClickFix campaign. This updated tactic deliberately crashes victims’ browsers and then attempts to lure users into executing malicious commands under the pretext of restoring normal functionality. This variant...
The security implementation gap: Why Microsoft is supporting Operation Winter SHIELD
Every conversation I have with information security leaders tends to land in the same place. People understand what matters. They know the frameworks, the controls, and the guidance. They can explain why identity security, patching, and access control are critical. And yet incidents keep happenin...
The security implementation gap: Why Microsoft is supporting Operation Winter SHIELD
Every conversation I have with information security leaders tends to land in the same place. People understand what matters. They know the frameworks, the controls, and the guidance. They can explain why identity security, patching, and access control are critical. And yet incidents keep happenin...
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...
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...
Microsoft SDL: Evolving security practices for an AI-powered world
As AI reshapes the world, organizations encounter unprecedented risks, and security leaders take on new responsibilities. Microsoft’s Secure Development Lifecycle SDL is expanding to address AI-specific security concerns in addition to the traditional software security areas that it has...
Microsoft SDL: Evolving security practices for an AI-powered world
As AI reshapes the world, organizations encounter unprecedented risks, and security leaders take on new responsibilities. Microsoft’s Secure Development Lifecycle SDL is expanding to address AI-specific security concerns in addition to the traditional software security areas that it has...
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...
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...
Case study: Securing AI application supply chains
The rapid adoption of AI applications, including agents, orchestrators, and autonomous workflows, represents a significant shift in how software systems are built and operated. Unlike traditional applications, these systems are active participants in execution. They make decisions, invoke tools,...
Case study: Securing AI application supply chains
The rapid adoption of AI applications, including agents, orchestrators, and autonomous workflows, represents a significant shift in how software systems are built and operated. Unlike traditional applications, these systems are active participants in execution. They make decisions, invoke tools,...
Turning threat reports into detection insights with AI
Security teams routinely need to transform unstructured threat knowledge, such as incident narratives, red team breach-path writeups, threat actor profiles, and public reports into concrete defensive action. The early stages of that work are often the slowest. These include extracting tactics,...
Turning threat reports into detection insights with AI
Security teams routinely need to transform unstructured threat knowledge, such as incident narratives, red team breach-path writeups, threat actor profiles, and public reports into concrete defensive action. The early stages of that work are often the slowest. These include extracting tactics,...
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 ...