Microsoft Support & Discussions

MITRE Engenuity’s Center for Threat-Informed Defense has published a library of detailed plans for emulating the threat actor FIN6 (which Microsoft tracks as TAAL), a collection of threat intelligence, MITRE ATT&CK data, supporting scripts, and utilities designed to enable red teams to emulate the adversary and evaluate defensive capabilities in their environments. Microsoft, a founding member of MITRE Engenuity’s Center for Threat-Informed Defense, is proud to be part of this industry-wide collaborative project. The Center for Threat-Informed Defense aims to bring together security researchers from across the globe to advance state-of-the-art approaches in cyberse…

Microsoft is dedicated to working with the community and our customers to continuously improve and tune our platform and products to help defend against the dynamic and sophisticated threat landscape. Earlier this year, we announced that we would replace the existing software testing experience known as Microsoft Security and Risk Detection with an automated, open-source tool as the industry moved toward this model. Today, we’re excited to release this new tool called Project OneFuzz, an extensible fuzz testing framework for Azure. Available through GitHub as an open-source tool, the testing framework used by Microsoft Edge, Windows, and teams across Microsoft is now avai…

I wrote a series of blogs last year on how gamified learning through cyber ranges can create more realistic and impactful cybersecurity learning experiences and help attract tomorrow’s security workforce. With the global talent shortage in this field, we need to work harder to bring people into the field. This blog is for new cyber professionals or perhaps younger aspirants considering getting into cyber. From an employee’s perspective, it can seem daunting to know where to start, especially when you’re entering an organization with established technology investments, priorities, and practices. Having come to this field later in my career than others, I say from experienc…

If your organization has Windows 10 Enterprise E3 or E5, or Windows 10 Education A3 or A5, you are now eligible to enable the Universal Print public preview in your tenant. Universal Print is a Microsoft 365 subscription-based service that can help you centralize print management. The solution is fully integrated with Azure Active Directory and supports single sign-on scenarios. Today, organizations with the following licensing subscriptions are eligible to participate in the Universal Print public preview: Windows 10 Enterprise E3 or E5 Windows 10 Education A3 or A5 Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 and E5 Microsoft 365 Education A3 and A5 Stay tuned to the Univ…

Microsoft has tied STRONTIUM to a newly uncovered pattern of Office365 credential harvesting activity aimed at US and UK organizations directly involved in political elections. Analysts from Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) and Microsoft Identity Security have been tracking this new activity since April 2020. Credential harvesting is a known tactic used by STRONTIUM to obtain valid credentials that enable future surveillance or intrusion operations. Subsequent analysis revealed that between September 2019 and June 2020, STRONTIUM launched credential harvesting attacks against tens of thousands of accounts at more than 200 organizations. In the two weeks betwee…

Few months back we have announced Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2 devices in a private preview with Windows Holographic ver. 2004 (Build 19041.1103 or later). Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2 with Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM) delivers efficiency, simplifies deployment, and streamlines device security and endpoint management, which drives significant cost and time savings for your organization. To ensure Windows Autopilot and Microsoft Endpoint Manager provide that streamlined device endpoint management capability, we are announcing two new Autopilot features which are currently available through Windows Holographic Insider preview: Windows Autopilot Tenant…

We have heard your feedback and are taking action to provide a more seamless experience for those managing monthly updates on-premises. To keep devices up to date, IT administrators who manage devices using on-premises methods must select and deploy the correct servicing stack update (SSU) with the latest cumulative update (LCU). In some cases, a specific version of the SSU must already be installed in order to install the latest LCU. If the device in question does not have the required SSU already installed, the LCU will fail to install. This scenario can be confusing for two reasons. First, it doesn't occur every month. Second, the error message that the LCU failu…

Take advantage of the efficiency benefits of Cloud-native SIEM using Azure Sentinel Today, security needs are evolving faster than ever—and the importance of being agile and cost-effective has never been clearer. Security teams need to get more done, faster, with less budget. On-premises security information and event management (SIEM) solutions can’t keep up with these demands and are expensive to maintain. By embracing a cloud-native SIEM like Azure Sentinel, you can save money and enable your security operations team to be more effective. According to an IDG survey of IT leaders, cloud-based SIEM solutions cost 11 percent less to support than on-premises soluti…

With more people than ever working remotely, organizations must maximize employee productivity while protecting an ever-growing digital footprint. Many have stitched together specialized security solutions from different vendors to improve their cybersecurity posture, but this approach is expensive and can result in gaps in coverage and a fragmented user experience. With Microsoft’s integrated security solutions, you can enhance security and user productivity more cost-effectively. Focusing a lens on the helpdesk illuminates how consolidating with Microsoft helps streamline and strengthen your security posture. Your helpdesk plays an important role in enabling employee…

You cannot build something great on a weak foundation – and security is no exception. Windows is filled with important security features like Hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI) and Windows Defender Credential Guard that protect users from advanced hardware and firmware attacks. For these features to properly do their jobs, the platform’s firmware and hardware must be trustworthy and healthy, otherwise the chain of trust that verifies the integrity of the system by validating that every component in the boot process is cryptographically signed by a trusted source could be tampered with maliciously, thereby compromising the security of operating system features t…

Boost creative problem solving with a diverse cybersecurity team In cybersecurity, whether we are talking about cryptocurrency mining, supply chain attacks, attacks against IoT, or COVID-19-related phishing lures, we know that gaining the advantage over our adversaries requires greater diversity of data to improve our threat intelligence. If we are to future proof bias in tech however, our teams must also be as diverse, as the problems we are trying to solve. Unfortunately, our cybersecurity teams don’t reflect this reality. A 2019 report by (ISC)2 found that less than 25 percent of cybersecurity professionals are women. People of color and women aren’t paid as we…

Build the business skills you need to advance to Chief Information Security Officer For many cybersecurity professionals, the ultimate career goal is to land a chief information security officer (CISO) job. A CISO is an executive-level position responsible for cyber risk management and operations. But cybersecurity is transforming. Today, a good CISO also must have strong communication skills and a deep understanding of the business. To gain the necessary experience to be considered for a CISO job, you need to understand how the role is evolving and the skills required to excel. Long before I became a Security Advisor at Microsoft, I started my career as an IT Sys…

Introduction More likely than not, your organization is in the middle of a digital transformation characterized by increased adoption of cloud apps and increased demand for mobility. In the age of remote work, users expect to be able to connect to any resource, on any device, from anywhere in the world. IT admins, in turn, are expected to securely enable their users’ productivity, often without changing the infrastructure of their existing solutions. For many organizations, with resources spread across multiple clouds, as well as on-prem, this means supporting complex hybrid deployments. In this guide, we will focus on how to deploy and configure Microsoft Cloud A…

When attackers successfully breach a target network, their typical next step is to perform reconnaissance of the network, elevate their privileges, and move laterally to reach specific machines or spread as widely as possible. For these activities, attackers often probe the affected network’s Active Directory, which manages domain authentication and permissions for resources. Attackers take advantage of users’ ability to enumerate and interact with the Active Directory for reconnaissance, which allows lateral movement and privilege escalation. This is a common attack stage in human-operated ransomware campaigns like Ryuk. These post-exploitation activities largely rely…

We live in an exciting time. We’re in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution—first steam, followed by electricity, then computers, and, now, the Internet of Things. A few years ago, IoT seemed like a futuristic concept that was on the distant horizon. The idea that your fridge would be connected to the internet, constantly uploading and downloading data and ordering things on its own, like new filters or groceries, seemed laughable. Why would anyone want or need such a thing? Now, IoT and other embedded and operational technologies (OT) are far more pervasive in our lives than anyone could have imagined. Robotics, chemical and pharmaceutical production, power…

Microsoft Threat Protection can help you reduce the cost of phishing The true cost of a successful phishing campaign may be higher than you think. Although phishing defenses and user education have become common in many organizations, employees still fall prey to these attacks. This is a problem because phishing is often leveraged as the first step in other cyberattack methods. As a result, its economic impact remains hidden. Understanding how these attacks work is key to mitigating your risk. One reason phishing is so insidious is that attackers continuously evolve their methods. In this blog, I’ve described why you need to take phishing seriously and how differe…

Detect, assess, and remediate phishing risks across your organization A successful phishing attack requires just one person to take the bait. That’s why so many organizations fall victim to these cyber threats. To reduce this human risk, you need a combination of smart technology and people-centric security awareness training. But if you don’t understand your vulnerabilities, it can be difficult to know where to start. Attack simulation training capabilities in Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection (Office 365 ATP) empower you to detect, assess, and remediate phishing risk through an integrated phish simulation and training experience. And, in October 2020, you can …

Digital empathy should guide your Zero Trust implementation Zero Trust has always been key to maintaining business continuity. And now, it’s become even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic to helping enable the largest remote workforce in history. While organizations are empowering people to work securely when, where, and how they want, we have found the most successful are the ones who are also empathetic to the end-user experience. At Microsoft, we refer to this approach as digital empathy. As you take steps to protect a mobile workforce, a Zero Trust strategy grounded in digital empathy will help enhance cybersecurity, along with productivity and collabora…

This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligence Security Association guest blog series. To learn more about MISA, go here. The growth of mobile and remote work and the emergence of the “post perimeter” world has made keeping track of shadow IT a huge challenge for enterprise IT teams. What makes this problem particularly difficult for infosec teams is a parallel development. Not only are your apps leaving the data-center, but your employees are leaving the building. In the good old days, you might have used firewalls or secure web gateways to give you visibility. On top of that, risky or unsanctioned apps could be blocked with a firewall script or added to a black…

Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3 is now enabled by default on Windows 10 Insider Preview builds, starting with Build 20170, the first step in a broader rollout to Windows 10 systems. TLS 1.3 is the latest version of the internet’s most deployed security protocol, which encrypts data to provide a secure communication channel between two endpoints. TLS 1.3 eliminates obsolete cryptographic algorithms, enhances security over older versions, and aims to encrypt as much of the handshake as possible. Security and performance enhancements in TLS 1.3 TLS 1.3 now uses just 3 cipher suites, all with perfect forward secrecy (PFS), authenticated encryption and additional da…

I’m excited to announce that, earlier today, Gartner listed Microsoft as a Leader in its 2020 Magic Quadrant for Unified Endpoint Management. You can read the entire report here, and you can see a snapshot of the Magic Quadrant below. You will note that we improved on both the “Ability to Execute” and “Completeness of Vision” axes. A major culture principle within the Microsoft Endpoint Manager team has been to place the ultimate measure of value on usage, and we have built our products accordingly. We extend this principle in our belief that customers choose to run their businesses with the products that offer IT the best combination of value and functionality, and…

The importance of cybersecurity in facilitating productive remote work was a significant catalyst for the two years-worth of digital transformation we observed in the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this era of ubiquitous computing, security solutions don’t just sniff out threats, they serve as control planes for improving productivity and collaboration by giving end-users easier access to more corporate resources. Microsoft recently concluded a survey of nearly 800 business leaders of companies of more than 500 employees in India (IN), Germany (DE), the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) to better understand their views of the pandemic threat la…