DoD Zero Trust Strategy proves security benchmark years ahead of schedule with Microsoft collaboration
The Navy implementation scored a 100 percent success rate, meeting DoD requirements on all 91 Target-Level activities tested.
Chinese threat actor Storm-0940 uses credentials from password spray attacks from a covert network
Since August 2023, Microsoft has observed intrusion activity targeting and successfully stealing credentials from multiple Microsoft customers that is enabled by highly evasive password spray attacks. Microsoft has linked the source of these password spray attacks to a network of compromised devices we track as CovertNetwork-1658, also known as xlogin and Quad7 (7777).
7 cybersecurity trends and tips for small and medium businesses to stay protected
The challenges that small and midsize businesses (SMBs) face when it comes to security continue to increase as it becomes more difficult to keep up with sophisticated cyberthreats with limited resources or security expertise. Research conducted highlights the top seven SMB cybersecurity trends and steps that can be taken to stay protected.
Midnight Blizzard conducts large-scale spear-phishing campaign using RDP files
Since October 22, 2024, Microsoft Threat Intelligence has observed Russian threat actor Midnight Blizzard sending a series of highly targeted spear-phishing emails to individuals in government, academia, defense, non-governmental organizations, and other sectors. This activity is ongoing, and Microsoft will continue to investigate and provide updates as available.
Microsoft Threat Intelligence healthcare ransomware report highlights need for collective industry action
Healthcare organizations are an attractive target for ransomware attacks. Read our latest blog post to learn why and get strategies to protect yourself from cyberthreats.
New macOS vulnerability, “HM Surf”, could lead to unauthorized data access
Microsoft Threat Intelligence uncovered a macOS vulnerability that could potentially allow an attacker to bypass the operating system’s Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) technology and gain unauthorized access to a user’s protected data.
File hosting services misused for identity phishing
Since mid-April 2024, Microsoft has observed an increase in defense evasion tactics used in campaigns abusing file hosting services like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Dropbox. These campaigns use sophisticated techniques to perform social engineering, evade detection, and compromise identities, and include business email compromise (BEC) attacks.
Storm-0501: Ransomware attacks expanding to hybrid cloud environments
Microsoft has observed the threat actor tracked as Storm-0501 launching a multi-staged attack where they compromised hybrid cloud environments and performed lateral movement from on-premises to cloud environment, leading to data exfiltration, credential theft, tampering, persistent backdoor access, and ransomware deployment.
North Korean threat actor Citrine Sleet exploiting Chromium zero-day
Microsoft identified a North Korean threat actor exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Chromium (CVE-2024-7971) to gain remote code execution (RCE) in the Chromium renderer process. Our assessment of ongoing analysis and observed infrastructure attributes this activity to Citrine Sleet, a North Korean threat actor that commonly targets the cryptocurrency sector for financial gain.
Peach Sandstorm deploys new custom Tickler malware in long-running intelligence gathering operations
Between April and July 2024, Microsoft observed Iranian state-sponsored threat actor Peach Sandstorm deploying a new custom multi-stage backdoor, which we named Tickler.
Chained for attack: OpenVPN vulnerabilities discovered leading to RCE and LPE
Microsoft researchers found multiple vulnerabilities in OpenVPN that could lead to an attack chain allowing remote code execution and local privilege escalation. This attack chain could enable attackers to gain full control over targeted endpoints, potentially resulting in data breaches, system compromise, and unauthorized access to sensitive information.
Ransomware operators exploit ESXi hypervisor vulnerability for mass encryption
Microsoft Security researchers have observed a vulnerability used by various ransomware operators to get full administrative access to domain-joined ESXi hypervisors and encrypt the virtual machines running on them. The vulnerability involves creating a group called “ESX Admins” in Active Directory and adding an attacker-controlled user account to this group.