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August 26 23 min read

When AI infrastructure becomes the target: Securing gateways and control points

Microsoft Threat Intelligence examines attacks on exposed AI workloads, including LiteLLM gateway exploitation, credential harvesting, persistence, and cryptomining activity.
August 18 16 min read

Hunting MacSync Stealer infrastructure through behavioral pivots

MacSync Stealer rapidly rotates domains to evade detection, but its behavior remains consistent.
August 10 20 min read

DeadLock ransomware: Breaking down a Rust-based encryptor with decentralized recovery infrastructure

Microsoft Threat Intelligence examines DeadLock ransomware, an emerging financially motivated operation distinguished by its use of decentralized infrastructure to support victim communications, negotiations, and data leak operations alongside double extortion tactics used to pressure victims.
August 5 13 min read

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

A macOS ClickFix campaign shifted tactics from openly serving infostealer lures to hiding them behind a browser-fingerprinting gate.
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August 4 10 min read

ChainDrop supply chain compromise: Anatomy of a self-propagating worm

A credential-stealing worm hidden in more than 400 compromised npm packages automatically spread across software ecosystems by republishing malicious updates.
August 4 7 min read

128 Seconds to disruption: Microsoft Defender stops ransomware at QNET

Microsoft Defender automatically isolated a compromised QNET endpoint in 128 seconds, stopping a multi-stage attack before the payload could persist or spread.
July 31 20 min read

CaptiveCrunch: Midnight Blizzard targets travelers worldwide for malware delivery and credential theft

Storm-2945, a sub-cluster of the Russian threat actor Midnight Blizzard, has been observed compromising the sign-in portals of hospitality-related organizations such as hotels since May 2026 in order to deliver malware to travelers and steal credentials in an operation we call CaptiveCrunch.
July 27 5 min read

Enhancing AI security through global AI red teaming

Microsoft’s External Red Team Alliance (EXTRA) is a global AI security initiative designed to advance AI safety research and red teaming.
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July 23 17 min read

Email threat landscape: Q2 2026 trends and insights

In the second quarter of 2026, the continuing effects of Microsoft’s disruption of the Tycoon2FA phishing platform contributed to sustained declines in several major phishing techniques, while threat actors expanded into Teams-based social engineering and employed increasingly automated and multi-stage attack chains.
July 16 12 min read

ACR Stealer: Two observed intrusion chains amid increased threat activity

From late April 2026 to mid-June 2026, Microsoft Defender Experts observed increased ACR Stealer activity across customer environments.
July 16 6 min read

Least privilege for AI agents: Identity, access, and tool binding

As AI agents become more autonomous, strong identity, access, and auditing controls are critical to keeping them secure.
July 15 13 min read

Unpacking the AsyncAPI npm supply chain compromise and import-time payload delivery

Threat actors compromised AsyncAPI packages and weaponized trusted CI/CD workflows to distribute malware through npm.

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