Unique characteristics of QR code phishing campaigns

Like with other phishing techniques, the goal of QR code phishing attacks is to get the user to click on a malicious link that seems legitimate. They often use minimalistic emails to deliver malicious QR codes that prompt seemingly legitimate actions—like password resets or two-factor authentication verifications. A QR code can also be easily manipulated to redirect unsuspecting victims to malicious websites or to download malware in exactly the same way as URLs.

Figure 1. QR code as an image within email body redirecting to a malicious website.

The normal warning signs users might notice on larger screens can often go unnoticed on mobile devices. While the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) vary depending on which bad actor is at work, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has detected a key set of patterns in QR code phishing attacks, including but not limited to:

• URL redirection, where a click or tap takes you not where you expected, but to a forwarded URL.
• Minimal to no text, which reduces the signals available for analysis and machine learning detection.
• Exploiting a known or trusted brand, using their familiarity and reputation to increase likelihood of interaction.
• Exploiting known email channels that trusted, legitimate senders use.
• A variety of social lures, including multifactor authentication, document signing, and more.
• Embedding QR codes in attachments.

The impact of QR code phishing campaigns on the broader email security industry

With the most common intent of QR code phishing being credential theft, malware distribution, or financial theft, QR code campaigns are often massive—exceeding 1,000 users and follow targeted information gathering reconnaissance by bad actors.²

Microsoft security researchers first started noticing an increase in QR-code based attacks in September 2023. We saw attackers quickly morphing their techniques in two keys ways: First by manipulating the way that the QR code rendered (such as different colors and tables), and second by manipulating the embedded URL to do redirection.

The dynamic nature of QR codes made it challenging for traditional email security mechanisms that were designed for link-based phishing techniques to effectively filter and protect against these types of cyberattacks. A key reason was the fact that extensive image content analysis was not commonly done for every image in every message, and did not represent a standard in the industry at the time of the surge.

As a result, for several months our customers saw an increase in bad email that contained malicious QR codes as we were adapting and evolving our technology to be effective against QR codes. This was a challenging time for our customers and those of other email security vendors. We added incremental resources and redirected all our engineering energy to address these issues, and along the way not only delivered new technological innovations but also modified our processes and modernized components of our pipeline to be more resilient in the future. Now these challenges have been addressed through a key set of innovations, and we want to share our learnings and technology advancements moving forward.

For bad actors, QR code phishing has become a lucrative business, and attackers are utilizing AI and large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT to increase the speed and improve the believability of their attacks. Recent research by Insikt Group noted that bad actors can generate 1,000 phishing emails in under two hours for as little as $10.³ For the security industry, this necessitates a multifaceted response including improved employee training and a renewed commitment to innovation.

The necessity of innovation in QR code phishing defense

Innovation in the face of evolving QR code phishing risk is not just beneficial, it’s imperative. As cybercriminals continually refine their tactics to exploit new technologies, security solutions must evolve at a similar pace to remain effective. In response to the growing threat of QR code phishing, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 took decisive action to leverage advanced machine learning and AI—developing robust defenses capable of detecting and neutralizing QR code phishing attacks in real time. Our team meticulously analyzed these cyberthreats across trillions of signals, gaining valuable insights into their mechanisms and evolving patterns. This knowledge helped us refine our security protocols and enhance our platform’s resilience with several strategic updates. As the largest email security provider, we have seen a significant decline in QR code phishing attempts. At the height, Defender for Office 365 was blocking 3 million attempts daily, and with the delivery of innovative protection we have seen this number shrink to 200,000 QR code phishing attempts every day. This is testament that our innovation is having the desired effect: reducing the effectiveness of QR code-based attacks and forcing attackers to shift their tactics.

Figure 2. QR code phishing blocked by Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

Recent innovations and protections we’ve implemented and improved within Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to help combat QR code phishing include:

• URL extraction enhancements: Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has improved its capabilities to extract URLs from QR codes, substantially boosting the system’s ability to detect and counteract phishing links hidden within QR images. This enhancement enables a more thorough analysis of potential cyberthreats embedded in QR codes. In addition, we now extract metadata from QR codes, which enriches the contextual data available during threat assessments, enhancing our ability to detect suspicious activities early in the attack chain.
• Advanced image processing: Advanced image processing techniques at the initial stage of the mail flow process allow us to extract and log URLs hidden within QR codes. This proactive measure disrupts attacks before they have a chance to compromise end user inboxes, addressing cyberthreats at the earliest possible point.
• Advanced hunting and remediation: To offer a comprehensive response to QR code threats across email, endpoint, and identities with our advanced hunting capabilities, security teams across organizations are well equipped to specifically identify and filter out malicious activities linked to these codes.
• User resilience against QR code phishing: To further equip our organization against these emerging threats, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has expanded its advanced capabilities to include QR code threats, maintaining alignment with email platforms and specific cyberattack techniques. Our attack simulation training systems along with standard setup of user selection, payload configuration, and scheduling, now have specialized payloads for QR code phishing to simulate authentic attack scenarios.

Read more technical details on how to hunt and respond to QR code-based attacks. By integrating all these capabilities across the Microsoft Defender XDR platform, we can help ensure any QR code-related threats identified in emails are thoroughly analyzed in conjunction with endpoint and identity data, creating a robust security posture that addresses threats on multiple fronts.

Staying ahead of the evolving threat landscape 

The enhancements of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to defend against QR code-based phishing attacks showcased our need to advance Microsoft’s email and collaboration security faster. The rollout of the above has closed this gap and made Defender for Office 365 effective against these attacks, and as the use of QR codes expands, our defensive tactics will now equally advanced to combat them.

Our continuous investment in analyzing the cyberthreat landscape, learning from past gaps, and our updated infrastructure will enable us to effectively handle present issues and proactively address future risks faster as threats emerge across email and collaboration tools. We will soon be sharing more exciting innovation that will showcase our commitment to delivering the best email and collaboration security solution to customers.

For more information, view the data sheet on protecting against QR code phishing or visit the website to learn more about Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

Learn more

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

¹Attackers Weaponizing QR Codes to Steal Employees Microsoft Credentials, Cybersecurity News. August 22, 2023.

²Hunting for QR Code AiTM Phishing and User Compromise, Microsoft Tech Community. February 12, 2024.

³Security Challenges Rise as QR Code and AI-Generated Phishing Proliferate, Recorded Future. July 18, 2024.

The post How Microsoft Defender for Office 365 innovated to address QR code phishing attacks appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.

Microsoft has embraced Zero Trust principles, both in our security products and in the way we secure our own enterprise environment. We’ve been helping thousands of organizations worldwide transition to a Zero Trust security model, including military departments and civilian agencies. Over the past three years, we’ve listened to our US government customers, so we can build rich new security features that help them meet the requirements described in the Executive Order, and then support their deployments. These advancements include certificate-based authentication in the cloud, Conditional Access authentication strength, cross-tenant access settings, FIDO2 provisioning APIs, Azure Virtual Desktop support for passwordless authentication, and device-bound passkeys.

The illustration below depicts the Zero Trust Maturity Model Pillars adopted by the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

As the memo’s deadline approaches, we’d like to celebrate the progress our customers have made using the capabilities in Microsoft Entra ID not only to meet requirements for the Identity pillar, but also to reduce complexity and to improve the user experience for their employees and partners.

Microsoft Entra ID is helping US government customers meet the M-22-09 requirements for identity

US government agencies are adopting Microsoft Entra ID to consolidate siloed identity solutions, reduce operational complexity, and improve control and visibility across all their users, as the memo requires. With Microsoft Entra ID, agencies can enforce multifactor authentication at the application level for more granular control. They can also strengthen security by enabling phishing-resistant authentication for staff, contractors, and partners, and by evaluating device information before authorizing access to resources.

Vision:

Agency staff use enterprise-managed identities to access the applications they use in their work. Phishing-resistant multifactor authentication protects those personnel from sophisticated online attacks.

Actions:

1. Agencies must employ centralized identity management systems for agency users that can be integrated into applications and common platforms.
2. Agencies must use strong multifactor authentication throughout their enterprise.
   • Multifactor authentication must be enforced at the application layer, instead of the network layer.
   • For agency staff, contractors, and partners, phishing-resistant multifactor authentication is required.
   • For public users, phishing-resistant multifactor authentication must be an option.
   • Password policies must not require use of special characters or regular rotation.
3. When authorizing users to access resources, agencies must consider at least one device-level signal alongside identity information about the authenticated user.

Source: M-22-09: Moving the US Government Toward Zero Trust Cybersecurity Principles, issued by the US Office of Management and Budget, January 2022, page 5.

Many of our US government civilian and military customers want to use the same solutions across their different environments. Since it’s available in secret and top-secret Microsoft Azure Government clouds, agencies can standardize on Microsoft Entra ID to secure user identities, to configure granular access permissions in one place, and to provide simpler, easier, and more secure sign-in experiences to applications their employees use in their work.

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Using Microsoft Entra ID as a centralized identity management system

Anyone who has struggled to manage multiple identity systems understands that it’s an expensive and inefficient approach. Government customers who have adopted Microsoft Entra ID as their central agency identity provider (IdP) gained a holistic view of all users and their access permissions as required by the memo. They also gained a centralized access policy engine that combines signals from multiple sources, including identities and devices, to detect anomalous user behavior, assess risk, and make real-time access decisions that adhere to Zero Trust principles.

Moreover, Microsoft Entra ID enables single sign-on (SSO) to resources and apps, including apps from Microsoft and thousands of other vendors, whether they’re on-premises or in Microsoft commercial or government clouds. When deployed as the central agency IdP, Microsoft Entra ID also secures access to resources in clouds from Amazon, Google, and Oracle.

Many government customers are facilitating secure collaboration among different organizations by using Microsoft Entra External ID for business-to-business (B2B) collaboration to enable cross-cloud access scenarios. They don’t have to give collaboration partners separate credentials for accessing applications and documents in their environment, which reduces their cyberattack surface and spares their partner users from maintaining multiple sets of credentials for multiple identity systems.

Using Microsoft Entra ID to facilitate cross-organizational collaboration

One of our government customers, along with their partner agency, configured cross-tenant access settings to trust multifactor authentication claims from each user’s home tenant. Their partner agency can now trust and enforce strong phishing-resistant authentication for the customer’s users without forcing them to sign in multiple times to collaborate. The partner agency also explicitly enforces, through a Conditional Access authentication strength policy, that the customer’s users must sign in using a personal identity verification (PIV) card or a common access card (CAC) before gaining access.

Another government customer needed to give employees from different organizations within the same agency access to shared services applications such as human resources systems. They used Microsoft Entra External ID for B2B collaboration along with cross-cloud settings to enable seamless and secure collaboration and resource sharing for all agency employees, other government agencies (OGAs), and external partners. They used Microsoft Entra Conditional Access policy and cross-tenant access settings to require that employees sign in using phishing-resistant authentication before accessing shared resources. Trust relationships ensure that this approach works whether the home tenant of an employee is in an Azure commercial or government cloud. They also enabled collaboration with agencies that use an IdP other than Microsoft Entra ID by setting up federation through the SAML 2.0 and WS-Fed protocols.

Next step after standardizing on Microsoft Entra ID as your centralized IdP: Use Microsoft Entra ID Governance to automate lifecycle management of guest accounts in your tenant, so guest users only get access to the resources they need, for only as long as they need it. Start here: What are lifecycle workflows?

Enabling strong multifactor authentication

Standardizing on Microsoft Entra ID has made it possible for our government customers to enable phishing-resistant authentication methods. Over the past 18 months, we’ve worked with our US government customers to increase adoption of phishing-resistant multifactor authentication with Microsoft Entra by almost 2,000%.

From there, customers configure Conditional Access policies that require strong phishing-resistant authentication for accessing applications and resources, as required by the memo. Using Conditional Access authentication strength, they can even set policies to require additional, stronger authentication based on the sensitivity of the application or resource the user is trying to access, or the operation they’re trying to perform.

Microsoft Entra supports strong phishing-resistant forms of authentication:

• Certificate-based authentication (CBA) using Personal Identification Cards (PIV) or Common Access Cards (CAC)
• Device-bound passkeys
  • FIDO2 security keys
  • Passkeys in the Microsoft Authenticator app
• Windows Hello for Business
• Platform single sign-on SSO for macOS devices (in preview)

For a deep dive into phishing resistant authentication in Microsoft Entra, explore the video series Phishing-resistant authentication in Microsoft Entra ID.

While Microsoft Entra ID can prevent the use of common passwords, identify compromised passwords, and enable self-service password reset, many of our government customers prefer to require the most secure forms of authentication, such as smart cards with x.509 certificates and passkeys, which don’t involve passwords at all. This makes signing in more secure, simplifies the user experience, and reduces management complexity.

Implementing phishing-resistant multifactor authentication methods with Microsoft Entra ID

To reduce the cost and complexity of maintaining an on-premises authentication infrastructure using Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) for employee PIV cards, one agency wanted to use certificate-based authentication (CBA) in Microsoft Entra ID. To ensure the transition went smoothly, they moved users with Staged Rollout, carefully monitoring threat activity using Microsoft Entra ID Protection dashboards and Microsoft Graph API logs exported to their security information and event management (SIEM) system. They migrated all their users to cloud-based CBA in Microsoft Entra in less than three months and after monitoring the environment for a time, confidently decommissioned their AD FS servers.

A local government department chose an opt-in approach for moving employees and vendors to phishing-resistant authentication. Every user contacting the help desk for a password reset instead received help onboarding to Windows Hello for Business. This agency also gave FIDO2 keys to all admins and set a Conditional Access authentication strength policy requiring all vendors to perform phishing-resistant authentication. Their next step will be to roll out device-bound passkeys managed in the Microsoft Authenticator app and enforce their use through Conditional Access. This will save them the expense of issuing separate physical keys and give their users the familiar experience of authenticating securely from their mobile device.

By giving users access to applications and resources through Azure Virtual Desktop, another large agency avoids the overhead of maintaining and supporting individual devices and the software running on them. They also protect their environment from potentially unhealthy, misconfigured, or stolen devices. Whether employees use devices running Windows, MacOS, iOS, or Android, they run the same Virtual Desktop image and sign in, as policy requires, using phishing-resistant, passwordless authentication.

Next step after enabling strong multifactor authentication: Configure Conditional Access authentication strength to enforce phishing-resistant authentication for accessing sensitive resources. Start here: Overview of Microsoft Entra authentication strength.

Using Conditional Access policies to authorize access to resources

Using Conditional Access, our government customers have configured fine-tuned access policies that consider contextual information about the user, their device, their location, and real-time risk levels to control which apps and resources users can access and under what conditions.

To satisfy the memo’s third identity requirement, these customers include device-based signals in policies that make authorization decisions. For example, Microsoft Entra ID Protection can detect whether a device’s originating network is safe or unsafe based on its geographic location, IP address range, or whether it’s coming from an anonymous IP address (for example, TOR). Conditional Access can evaluate signals from Microsoft Intune or other mobile device management systems to determine whether a device is properly managed and compliant before granting access. It can also consider device threat signals from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

Enabling Microsoft Entra Conditional Access risk-based policies

One government department enabled risk-based Conditional Access policies across their applications, requiring more stringent sign-in methods depending on levels of user and sign-in risk. For example, a user evaluated as ‘no-risk’ must always perform multifactor authentication, a user evaluated as ‘low-medium risk’ must sign in using phishing-resistant multifactor authentication, and a user deemed ‘high-risk’ must sign in using a specific certificate issued to them by the department. The customer has also configured policy to require compliant devices, enable token protection, and define sign-in frequency. To facilitate threat hunting and automatic mitigation, they send their sign-in and other Microsoft Entra logs to Microsoft Sentinel.

Next step after configuring basic Conditional Access policies: Configure risk-based Conditional Access policies using Microsoft Intune. Start here: Configure and enable risk policies.

Next steps

On July 10, 2024, the White House issued Memorandum M-21-14, “Administration Cybersecurity Priorities for the FY 2026 Budget.” One budget priority calls on agencies to transition toward fully mature Zero Trust architectures by September 30, 2026. Agencies need to submit an updated implementation plan to the Office of Management and Budget within 120 days of the memo’s release.

Microsoft is here to help you rearchitect your environment and implement your Zero Trust strategy, so you can comply with every milestone of the Executive Order. We’ve published technical guidance and detailed documentation to help federal agencies use Microsoft Entra ID to meet identity requirements. We’ve also published detailed guidance on meeting the Department of Defense Zero Trust requirements with Microsoft Entra ID.

In the coming weeks and months, you’ll see announcements about additional steps we’re taking to simplify your Zero Trust implementation, such as the general availability of support for device-bound passkeys in Microsoft Authenticator and Microsoft-managed Conditional Access policies that enable multifactor authentication by default for US government customers.

We look forward to supporting you through the next phases of your Zero Trust journey.

1. Standardize on Microsoft Entra ID as your centralized identity provider to secure every identity and to secure access to your apps and resources. Start here: What is Microsoft Entra ID?
2. To facilitate secure cross-organization collaboration, configure cross-tenant access settings and Conditional Access policies to require that partners accessing your resources sign in using phishing-resistant authentication. Start here: Microsoft Entra B2B in government and national clouds.
3. If you’re using CBA on AD FS, migrate to cloud-based CBA using Staged Rollout and retire your on-premises federation servers. Start here: Migrate from AD FS Certificate-based Authentication (CBA) to Microsoft Entra ID CBA.
4. Eliminate passwords altogether by enabling passwordless phishing-resistant authentication using CBA, Windows Hello for Business, device-bound passkeys (FIDO2 security keys or passkeys managed in the Microsoft Authenticator app), or Platform SSO for MacOS. Start here: Plan a passwordless authentication deployment in Microsoft Entra ID.
5. Implement risk-based Conditional Access policies to adjust access requirements dynamically. Start here: DoD Zero Trust Strategy for the user pillar.

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

The post How Microsoft Entra ID supports US government agencies in meeting identity security requirements appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.

As part of any robust incident response plan, organizations often work through potential security weaknesses by responding to hypothetical cyberthreats. In this blog post, we’ll imagine a scenario in which a threat actor uses malware to infect the network, moving laterally throughout the environment and attempting to escalate their admin rights along the way. In this hypothetical scenario, we’ll assume containment of the incident requires a mass password reset.

Despite technological advances, many organizations still depend heavily on passwords, making them vulnerable to cyberthreats. During a ransomware attack, the need for mass password resets becomes urgent. Unfortunately, admins can quickly become overwhelmed, burdened with the daunting task of resetting passwords for countless users across multiple connected devices. The surge in help desk calls and service tickets as users face authentication issues on multiple fronts can significantly disrupt business operations. But it’s imperative to secure all digital access points to swiftly mitigate risks and restore system integrity. So how do we manage a mass password reset while minimizing disruption to users and the business?

This blog post delves into the processes and technologies involved in managing a mass password reset, in alignment with expert advice from Microsoft Incident Response. We’ll explore the necessity of mass password resets and the specific methods and security measures that Microsoft recommends to effectively safeguard identities. For a more technical explanation, read our Tech Community post.

Surge in password-based cyberattacks

According to the most recent Microsoft Digital Defense Report, password-based attacks in 2023 increased tenfold over the previous year, with Microsoft blocking about 4,000 attacks per second through Microsoft Entra.¹ This alarming rise underscores the vulnerability of password-dependent security systems. Despite this, too many companies haven’t adopted multifactor authentication, leaving them vulnerable to a variety of cyberattacks, such as phishing, credential stuffing, and brute force attacks. This makes a mass password reset not just a precaution, but a necessity in certain situations.

Deciding on a mass password reset

When the Microsoft Incident Response team determines a threat actor has had extensive access to a customer’s identity plane, a mass password reset may be the best option to restore environment security and prevent unauthorized access. Here are a few of the first questions we ask:

• When should you perform a mass password reset?
• What challenges might you face during the process?
• How should you prepare for it?

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How to manage a mass password reset effectively

In today’s world, many of us are working from anywhere, blending home and office environments. This diversity makes executing a mass password reset particularly challenging, and the decision isn’t always clear. Organizations need to weigh the risk to the business from ransomware and down time against the disruption to users and the often overwhelming strain on IT staff. Here are the two main drivers of mass password resets, as well as advanced security measures a cybersecurity team can apply.

User-driven resets

In environments where identities sync through Microsoft Entra, there’s no need for a direct office connection to reset passwords. Using Microsoft Entra ID capabilities allows users to change their credentials at their next login. Opting for Microsoft Entra ID can also add layers of security through features like Conditional Access, making the reset process both secure and user-friendly. Conditional Access policies work by evaluating the context of each sign-in attempt and allowing you to configure requirements based on that context—like requiring users to complete multifactor authentication challenges if they’re accessing files from outside the corporate network, for example. Conditional Access policies can significantly enhance security by preventing unauthorized access during the reset process.

Administrator-driven resets

This method is crucial when immediate action is needed. Resetting all credentials quickly might disrupt user access, but it’s sometimes necessary to secure the system. Providing options like self-service password reset (SSPR) can help users regain access without delay. SSPR allows users to authenticate using alternative methods such as personal email addresses, phone numbers, or security questions—options available when they have been previously configured. This method not only restores access quickly but also reduces the load on help desk and support hotline departments during critical recovery phases.

Advanced security measures: Beyond basic resets

In addition to the primary reset methods, advanced security measures should be considered to enhance the security posture further. For highly privileged accounts, using privileged identity management (PIM) can manage just-in-time access, reducing the risk of exposure. PIM enables granular control over privileged accounts, allowing administrators to activate them only when necessary, which minimizes the opportunity for attackers to exploit these high-level credentials. To explore more scenarios where mass password reset might be the best option, read through our technical post.

Securing emergency access: Don’t forget to monitor

For critical accounts, manually resetting credentials ensures tighter security. It’s essential to equip emergency access accounts with phishing-resistant authentication, such as FIDO2 security keys and support from the Microsoft Authenticator app. Monitoring the activities from these accounts is crucial to ensure they are used correctly and only in emergencies. IT admins can leverage Microsoft Entra ID logs to keep a close watch on login patterns and activities, viewing real-time alerts and ensuring quick response to any suspicious actions.

Passwordless authentication and enhancing incident response

As cybersecurity evolves, the move toward passwordless authentication is becoming integral to enhancing incident response strategies. Traditional passwords—often vulnerable to breaches—are giving way to more secure methods like Windows Hello for Business, Microsoft Authenticator, and FIDO2 security keys. These technologies leverage biometrics and secure tokens, reducing common attack vectors such as password theft and phishing, and thereby streamlining the incident response process. Policies like a Temporary Access Pass can be configured to empower a move towards passwordless authentication, making it easier for users to register new strong authentication methods.

Implementing multifactor authentication also further strengthens security frameworks. Multifactor authentication is an essential component of basic security hygiene that can prevent 99% of account compromise attacks.¹ When integrated with phishing-resistant authentication methods, together they form a formidable barrier against unauthorized access. This dual approach not only speeds up the response during security incidents but also reduces potential entry points for attackers. This transformative phase in cybersecurity shifts focus on reactive to proactive security measures, promising a future where digital safety is inherent and user interactions are inherently secure. An option to enable phish-resistant authentication is the newly released ability to use passkeys with the Microsoft Authenticator.

A mass password reset is just one of the many tools organizations need to understand and consider as part of their robust incident response plan. For a more in-depth look at scenarios that may require mass password reset, read our technical post.

Learn more

Learn more about Microsoft Incident Response and Microsoft Entra.

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

¹Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2023.

The post Microsoft Incident Response tips for managing a mass password reset appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.

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 account attached to them, which can lessen scrutiny of their potentially suspicious use in some cases and present cybercriminals with a different type of payment card surface to study and exploit.

Microsoft has seen an uptick in activity from threat actor group Storm-0539, also known as Atlas Lion, around the United States holidays, including Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas. In advance of Memorial Day 2024, Microsoft has observed a 30% increase in activity from Storm-0539 between March and May 2024.

The latest edition of Cyber Signals dives deep into the world of gift card fraud, shedding light on Storm-0539 and its sophisticated cybercrime techniques and persistence, while providing guidance to retailers on how to stay ahead of these risks.

Cyber Signals

The latest report describes how organizations can protect gift cards from Storm-0539's cybercrime techniques.

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The evolution of Storm-0539 (Atlas Lion)

Active since late 2021, this cybercrime group represents an evolution of threat actors who previously specialized in malware attacks on point-of-sale (POS) devices like retail cash registers and kiosks to compromise payment card data, and today they are adapting to target cloud and identity services in steadily attacking the payment and card systems associated with large retailers, luxury brands, and well-known fast food restaurants.

Sophisticated strategies

What sets Storm-0539 apart is its deep understanding of cloud environments, which it exploits to conduct reconnaissance on organizations’ gift card issuance processes and employee access. Its approach to compromising cloud systems for far-reaching identity and access privileges mirrors the tradecraft and sophistication typically seen in nation-state-sponsored threat actors, except instead of gathering email or documents for espionage, Storm-0539 gains and uses persistent access to hijack accounts and create gift cards for malicious purposes and does not target consumers exclusively. After gaining access to an initial session and token, Storm-0539 will register its own malicious devices to victim networks for subsequent secondary authentication prompts, effectively bypassing multifactor authentication protections and persisting in an environment using the now fully compromised identity.

A cloak of legitimacy

To remain undetected, Storm-0539 adopts the guise of legitimate organizations, obtaining resources from cloud providers under the pretense of being non-profits. It creates convincing websites, often with misleading “typosquatting” domain names a few characters different from authentic websites, to lure unsuspecting victims, further demonstrating its cunning and resourcefulness.

Defending against the storm

Organizations that issue gift cards should treat their gift card portals as high-value targets for cybercriminals and should focus on continuous monitoring, and audit for anomalous activities. Implementing conditional access policies and educating security teams on social engineering tactics are crucial steps in fortifying defenses against such sophisticated actors. Given Storm-0539’s sophistication and deep knowledge of cloud environments, it is recommended that you also invest in cloud security best practices, implement sign-in risk policies, transition to phishing-resistant multifactor authentication, and apply the least privilege access principle.

By adopting these measures, organizations can enhance their resilience against focused cybercriminals like Storm-0539, while keeping trusted gift, payment, and other card options as attractive and flexible amenities for customers. To learn more about the latest threat intelligence insights, visit Microsoft Security Insider.

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

The post Cyber Signals: Inside the growing risk of gift card fraud appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.

Chances are you’ve heard the phrase “attackers don’t break in, they log in.” Identities have evolved to be the most targeted asset, because they enable cyber criminals to move and operate across environments to achieve their goals. In 2023, identity-based attacks reached a record-high with 30 billion attempted password attacks each month, as cyber-criminals capitalize on the smallest misconfigurations and gaps in your identity protection.  

As customers have applied MFA, device compliance, and other Zero Trust core principles to their identity environments, attackers have shifted to attacking the identity infrastructure itself. While it is critical to protect all identities – identifying, preventing, detecting and responding to attacks on the Identity admins, apps, and services that provide the foundation of your Zero Trust platform is more critical than ever. That’s why it’s critical for organizations to build a holistic approach to defend their identity estate across both – on-prem infrastructure and cloud identities – by making Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) a cornerstone of their defense strategy. KuppingerCole defines ITDR as a class of security solutions designed to proactively detect, investigate, and respond to identity-related threats and vulnerabilities in an organization’s IT environment. 

Today we are thrilled to announce that Microsoft has been recognized as an overall leader in the KuppingerCole Leadership Compass Identity Threat Detection and Response: IAM Meets the SOC. The report calls out our strengths across key capabilities ranging from identity posture to remediation, while further highlighting Microsoft’s commitment to protecting all organizations. VP KuppingerCole US and Global Head of Research Strategy Mike Neuenschwander states that “Microsoft’s approach to ITDR is refreshingly open, including integration with other cloud identity platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Okta.”.  

Figure 1: ITDR Leadership compass with Microsoft as a leader

Streamline your identity protection with ITDR and generative AI  

At Microsoft, we look at ITDR as a set of capabilities at the intersection of Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Extended Detection and Response (XDR). Designed to break down organizational silos and optimize collaboration and effectiveness of identity and SOC teams, we built a seamless integration between Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft Defender XDR that empowers organizations to reinforce their security boundary with complete protection across their hybrid identity landscape.  Further, generative AI in the form of Microsoft Copilot for Security is embedded across all touchpoints, helping security and IT professionals respond to cyber threats, process signals, and assess risk exposure at the speed and scale of AI. 

As organizations begin to implement their ITDR strategies, they should consider 4 key areas: 

• Enforce secure, adaptive access: Adopting a comprehensive, defense-in-depth strategy that spans identities, endpoints, and networks is the starting point of any ITDR initiative. Implementing consistent identity and network access policies from a single unified engine across public and private networks is critical to protecting identities and securing access to resources. The Zero Trust Network Access model of Microsoft Entra Private Access enables secure connectivity to private resources from Windows, iOS, Mac, and Android operating systems and across any port and protocol, including SMB, RDP, FTP, SSH, SAP, printing, and all other TCP/UDP based protocols to significantly reduce the risk of potential breaches. Using advanced user and entity behavioral analytics (UEBA) in Microsoft Entra ID Protection, Conditional Access policies make real-time access decisions based on contextual factors such as user, device, location, network, and real-time risk information to control what a specific user can access and how and when they have access seamlessly across on-premises and cloud environments. Analyze risk signals in real time and automatically block access or prompt re-authentication, like MFA, to stop suspicious activity in real time and before a breach occurs.  
• Proactively protect your on-premises resources and harden your identity posture: Misconfigurations in identity infrastructure, permissions, or access controls are the Achillies’ heel of identity security. All it takes is one compromised user account, infected device, or an open port for an attacker to access and laterally move anywhere inside your network. These breaches-waiting-to-happen can have far-reaching consequences as Identities have become an integral part of almost every element of modern security practices. Microsoft provides detailed, identity-specific posture recommendations spanning on-premises Active Directory environments, Microsoft Entra ID deployments and even other common identity solutions all within the context of a broader security posture score. 
• Disrupt and remediate identity threats at machine speed: Automatic attack disruption is an out-of-the-box capability in Defender XDR that stops the progression and limits the impact of some of the most sophisticated attacks that involve identity compromise. Using the significant breadth of our signals, it not only disrupts ongoing attacks but accurately predicts the attacker’s next move and proactively blocks it with 99% confidence. Ransomware campaigns are now disrupted within an average of 3 minutes. Our powerful capabilities support identity-involved attacks like business email compromise, adversary-in-the-middle, and can even disrupt Ransomware campaigns within an average of 3 minutes. 
• Augment your security teams with generative AI: Microsoft Copilot for Security is the first generative AI security product to help protect organizations at machine speed and scale. Copilot for Security is an AI assistant for security teams that builds on the latest in large language models. Copilot is native within the existing Entra and Defender experiences, helping identity and SOC teams prioritize, understand and act upon identity risks and security incidents with step-by-step recommendations in seconds.  

As the sophistication and prevalence of identity-based attacks continue to grow, ITDR is becoming increasingly critical to modern cybersecurity and we are excited to see KuppingerCole highlight this in their latest report. Looking forward, we will continue to integrate our industry-leading solution and AI capabilities to help our customers future-proof their defenses and stay resilient against evolving cyberthreats in the workforce identity space. 

​​To learn more about Microsoft’s ITDR solution visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity. 

The post Microsoft named an overall leader in KuppingerCole Leadership Compass for ITDR appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.

In 2015, when we introduced Windows Hello and Windows Hello for Business as secure ways to access Windows 10 without entering a password, our identity systems were detecting around 115 password attacks per second.¹ Less than a decade later, that number has surged 3,378% to more than 4,000 password attacks per second.² Password attacks are so popular because they still get results. It’s painfully clear that passwords are not sufficient for protecting our lives online. No matter how long and complicated you make your password, or how often you change it, it still presents a risk.

The good news is that we’ve made a lot of progress toward making passwords a relic of the past. For a while, you’ve been able to sign in to apps and websites using FIDO security keys, Windows Hello, or the Microsoft Authenticator app instead of a password. Since September 2021, you’ve not only been able to sign in to your Microsoft account without a password, but you’ve also been able to delete your password altogether.³ We’re almost there.

And now there’s an even better way to sign in to more places without passwords: passkeys.

The future of signing in

If you’re like many people, you probably still use passwords to sign in to most of your websites and apps, most likely from multiple devices. This can translate into hundreds of passwords to remember, unless you use a password manager. With passkeys, instead of creating, managing, remembering, and entering passwords, you access your digital accounts the same way you unlock your device—usually with your face, fingerprint, or device PIN. More and more apps and services are adding support for passkeys; you can already use them to sign in to the most popular ones. Passkeys are so much easier and more secure than passwords that we predict passkeys will replace passwords almost entirely (and we hope this happens soon).

Starting today, you can use a passkey to access your Microsoft account using your face, fingerprint, or device PIN on Windows, Google, and Apple platforms. Your passkey gives you quick and easy access to the Microsoft services you use every day, and it will do a much better job than your password of protecting your account from malicious attacks.

Easier and more secure than passwords

Think of how many times and places you sign in with a password every single day. Is it 10? 50? Not only is this a frustrating experience, it’s also an unreliable way to protect a digital account. Here’s why: When you enter a password to sign in to an account, you’re essentially sharing a secret with the website or app to prove that you should have access to the account. The problem is that anyone who gets a hold of this secret can gain access to your account, and if your password gets compromised and appears on the dark web, the repercussions can be serious.

To make your credentials stronger, an app or website might require you to make your password longer or more complex. But even if you follow all the best practices for creating “strong” passwords, it’s still a trivial exercise for hackers to guess, steal, or trick you into revealing them.

You may have experienced an attack yourself—you click on a link in an email that seems legitimate, which leads to a website that looks just like the one you’re used to, asking you to enter your credentials. But when you do, nothing happens, or you get an error message. By the time you notice that the URL in your browser address bar is different from the usual one, it’s too late. You’ve just been phished by a malicious website.

Many app and website providers understand that even complicated passwords aren’t good enough to protect your account, so they give you the choice to use two-step or multifactor authentication with approvals and codes sent to your phone, email, or an app. While traditional multifactor authentication can help protect your account, it’s not attacker-proof, and it creates another frustrating barrier between you and your content: all these access attempts, passwords, and codes on all your devices can really add up.

This is why we’re so enthusiastic about passkeys.

How passkeys work

Passkeys work differently than passwords. Instead of a single, vulnerable secret, passkey access uses two unique keys, known as a cryptographic key pair. One key is stored safely on your device, guarded by your biometrics or PIN. The other key stays with the app or website for which you create the passkey. You need both parts of the key pair to sign in, just as you need both your key and the bank’s key to get into your safety deposit box.

Because this key pair combination is unique, your passkey will only work on the website or app you created it for, so you can’t be tricked into signing in to a malicious look-alike website. This is why we say that passkeys are “phishing-resistant.”

Even better, all the goodness and strength of cryptographic authentication stays behind the scenes. All you have to do to sign in is use your device unlock gesture: look into your device camera, press your finger on a fingerprint reader, or enter your PIN. Neither your biometric information nor your PIN ever leaves your device and they never get shared with the site or service you’re signing in to. Passkeys can also sync between your devices, so if you lose or upgrade your device, your passkeys will be ready and waiting for you when you set up your new one.

The best part about passkeys is that you’ll never need to worry about creating, forgetting, or resetting passwords ever again.

Creating a passkey for your Microsoft account

Creating a passkey for your Microsoft account is easy. On the device where you want to create the passkey, follow this link, and choose the face, fingerprint, PIN, or security key option. Then follow the instructions on your device.

To learn more about creating passkeys for your Microsoft account, visit this guide.

Signing into your Microsoft account using a passkey

When you sign in to your Microsoft account, you can use your passkey by choosing Sign-in options and then selecting face, fingerprint, PIN, or security key. Your device will open a security window, and then you can use your passkey to sign in.

Figure 1. Signing in to your Microsoft account on mobile devices.

Today, you can use a passkey to sign in to Microsoft apps and websites, including Microsoft 365 and Copilot on desktop and mobile browsers. Support for signing into mobile versions of Microsoft applications using your passkey will follow in the coming weeks.

If you want to use passkeys to sign in to work-related apps and services, your admin can configure Microsoft Entra ID to accept passkeys hosted on a hardware security key or in the Microsoft Authenticator app installed on your mobile device.

In this era of AI, there’s unprecedented opportunity for creativity and productivity that empowers every person on the planet—including billions of Microsoft users who access services for work and life every day—to achieve more. Protecting and accessing your digital life doesn’t need to be a hassle, and you shouldn’t have to choose between simple access and safe access. Accessing your Microsoft account with a passkey lets you put the frustration of passwords and codes behind you, so you can focus on being creative and getting things done.

Happy World Password(less) Day!

Learn more

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

¹Microsoft Password Guidance, Microsoft Identity Protection Team.

²Microsoft Entra expands into Security Service Edge and Azure AD becomes Microsoft Entra ID, Joy Chik. July 11, 2023.

³The passwordless future is here for your Microsoft account, Vasu Jakkal. September 15, 2021.

The post Microsoft introduces passkeys for consumer accounts appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.

Software as a service (SaaS) adoption has accelerated at a lightning speed, enabling collaboration, automation, and innovation for businesses large and small across every industry vertical—from government, education, financial service to tech companies. Every SaaS application is now expanding its offering to allow better integration with the enterprise ecosystem and advanced collaboration features, becoming more of a “platform” than an “application.” To further complicate the security landscape, business users are managing these SaaS applications with little to no security oversight, creating a decentralized administration model. All this is leading to a growing risk surface with complex misconfigurations that can expose organization’s identities, sensitive data, and business processes to malicious actors. 

To combat this challenge, Valence and Microsoft Security work together to ensure that SaaS applications are configured according to the best security practices and improve the security posture of identities configured in each individual SaaS application. Together, Valence and Microsoft:  

• Centrally manage SaaS identities permissions and access.
• Enforce strong authentication by ensuring proper MFA (multi-factor authentication) and SSO (single sign-on) enrollment and managing local SaaS users.
• Detect and revoke unauthorized non-human SaaS identities such as APIs, service accounts, and tokens.
• Incorporate SaaS threat detection capabilities to improve SaaS incident response.

As most of the sensitive corporate data shifted from on-prem devices to the cloud, security teams need to ensure they manage the risks of how this data is being accessed and managed. Integrating Valence’s SaaS Security with the Microsoft Security ecosystem now provides a winning solution. 

SaaS applications are prime targets  

Recent high profile breaches have shown that attackers are targeting SaaS applications and are leveraging misconfigurations and human errors to gain high privilege access to sensitive applications and data. While many organizations have implemented SSO and MFA as their main line of defense when it comes to SaaS, recent major breaches have proven otherwise. Attackers have identified that MFA fatigue, social engineering and targeting the SaaS providers themselves can bypass many of the existing mechanisms that security teams have put in place. These add to high-profile breaches where attackers leveraged legitimate third-party open authorization (OAuth) tokens to gain unauthorized access to SaaS applications, and many more attack examples. 

State of SaaS security risks 

According to our 2023 SaaS Security Report which analyzed real SaaS environments to measure their security posture before they implemented an effective SaaS security program. The results showed that every organization didn’t enforce MFA on 100% of their identities—there are some exceptions, such as service accounts, contractors, and shared accounts, or simply lack of effective monitoring of drift. In addition, one out of eight SaaS accounts are dormant and not actively used. Offboarding users is not only important to save costs, but attackers also like to target these accounts for account takeover attacks since they are typically less monitored. Other key stats were that 90% of externally shared files haven’t been used by external collaborators for at least 90 days and that every organization has granted multiple third-party vendors organization-wide access to their emails, files, and calendars. 

Figure 1. Top SaaS Security gaps identified in the 2023 State of SaaS Security Report.

Holistic SaaS security strategy 

Establishing a holistic SaaS security strategy requires to bring together many elements—from shadow SaaS discovery, through strong authentication, identity management of both humans and non-humans, managing and remediating SaaS misconfigurations, enforcing data leakage prevention policies, and finally, establishing scalable incident response. Valence and Microsoft take security teams one step further toward a more holistic approach. 

Valence joined the Microsoft Intelligence Security Association (MISA) and integrated with Microsoft security products—Microsoft Entra ID and ​​​​Microsoft Sentinel—to enhance customers’ capabilities to manage their SaaS risks, effectively remediate them, and respond to SaaS breaches. The Valence SaaS Security Platform provides insight and context on SaaS risks such as misconfigurations, identities, data shares, and SaaS-to-SaaS integrations. Extending existing controls with SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) capabilities and SaaS risk remediation capabilities. Valence is also a proud participant of the Partner Private Preview of Microsoft Copilot for Security. This involves working with Microsoft product teams to help shape Copilot for Security product development in several ways, including validation and refinement of new and upcoming scenarios, providing feedback on product development and operations to be incorporated into future product releases, and validation and feedback of APIs to assist with Copilot for Security’s extensibility. 

Figure 2. Illustrative data: The Valence Platform provides a single pane of glass to find and fix SaaS risk across four core use cases: data protection, SaaS to SaaS governance, identity security, and configuration management. 

Secure SaaS human and non-human identities

In the modern identity-first environment, most attackers focus on targeting high privilege users, dormant accounts, and other risks. Enforcing zero trust access has become a core strategy for many security teams. Security teams need to identify all the identities they need to secure. Microsoft Entra SSO management combined with Valence’s SaaS application monitoring—to detect accounts created—provides a holistic view into human identities and non-human (Enterprise Applications, service accounts, APIs, OAuth and 3rd party apps).  

Microsoft Entra ID centrally enforces strong authentication such as MFA and Valence discovers enforcement gaps or users that are not managed by the central SSO. Valence also monitors the SaaS applications themselves to discover the privileges granted to each identity and provides recommendations on how to enforce least privilege with minimal administrative access. To continuously validate verification based on risks, the final piece of zero trust strategy, Valence leverages the risky users and service principals signals from Microsoft Entra ID and combines them with signals from other SaaS applications for a holistic view into identity risks. 

Protect SaaS applications 

Microsoft has a wide SaaS offering that is fueling enterprise innovation. These services are central to core business functions and employee collaboration, cover many use cases, and are spread across multiple business units, but are tied together in many cases such as identity and access management, and therefore their security posture is often related as well. Managing the security posture of SaaS services can be complex because of the multiple configurations and the potential cross service effects that require security teams to build their expertise across a wide range of SaaS.  

Many security teams view SaaS apps as part of their more holistic view into SaaS security posture management and would like to create cross-SaaS security policies and enforce them. Valence’s platform integrates with Microsoft Entra ID and other SaaS services using Microsoft via Microsoft Graph to normalize the complex data sets and enable security teams to closely monitor the security posture of their SaaS applications in Microsoft alongside the rest of their SaaS environment. 

Enhance SaaS threat detection and incident response 

Improving SaaS security posture proactively reduces the chances of a breach, but unfortunately SaaS breaches can still occur, and organizations need to prepare their threat detection coverage and incident response plans. The built in human and non-human identity threat detection capabilities of Microsoft Entra ID, combined with Microsoft Sentinel log correlation and security automation, and Microsoft Copilot for Security’s advanced AI capabilities, create a powerful combination to detect and respond to threats. Valence expands existing detections from compromised endpoint and identity with important SaaS context—for example, did the compromise device belong to a SaaS admin user? Did the compromised identity perform suspicious activities in other SaaS applications? The expanded detections provide critical insights to prioritize and assess the blast radius of breaches. Additionally, Valence’s SaaS threat detection can trigger threat detection workflows in Microsoft products based on its unique indicator of compromise monitoring. 

Together, Valence and Microsoft combine the best of all worlds when it comes to SaaS security. From SaaS discovery, through SaaS security posture management, remediating risks, and detecting threats—Valence and Microsoft enable secure adoption of SaaS applications. Modern SaaS risks and security challenges require a holistic view into SaaS risk management and remediation. Get started today. 

About Valence Security 

Valence is a leading SaaS security company that combines SSPM and advanced remediation with business user collaboration to find and fix SaaS security risks. SaaS applications are becoming decentrally managed and more complex, which is introducing misconfiguration, identity, data, and SaaS-to-SaaS integration risks. The Valence SaaS Security Platform provides visibility and remediation capabilities for business-critical SaaS applications. With Valence, security teams can empower their business to securely adopt SaaS. Valence is backed by leading cybersecurity investors like Microsoft’s M12 and YL Ventures, and is trusted by leading organizations. Valence is available for purchase through Azure Marketplace. For more information, visit their website. 

Be among the first to hear about new products, capabilities, and offerings at Microsoft Secure digital event on March 13, 2024.​ Learn from industry luminaries and influencers. Register today.

Learn more

To learn more about the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), visit our website where you can learn about the MISA program, product integrations, and find MISA members. Visit the video playlist to learn about the strength of member integrations with Microsoft products. 

​​To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity. 

The post ​​Secure SaaS applications with Valence Security and Microsoft Security​​ appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.

In a scenario familiar to many universities worldwide, Claremont Graduate University (CGU), a renowned research university located in Southern California, was struggling with how to bring Oracle PeopleSoft Campus Solutions into its Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) environment and enable multifactor authentication and single sign-on (SSO) for students and staff who access Oracle PeopleSoft on a daily basis. The only option for the resource-strapped IT department seemed to be an expensive development effort until the university discovered Datawiza and accomplished its goal in just a few weeks.

CGU lacked security expertise and SDK programming experience to connect PeopleSoft to Microsoft Entra ID themselves. The IT team also lacked the resources to consult with PeopleSoft, Microsoft, and outside security resources, or had to hire a third party to do the project. The combination of Datawiza and Microsoft enabled CGU to quickly and easily connect PeopleSoft to Microsoft Entra ID and enable multifactor authentication and SSO. Datawiza swiftly crafted a proof of concept that CGU then thoroughly tested. Once approved, Datawiza promptly configured the solution to precisely suit the university’s needs, subsequently transitioning it to production.

Universities like CGU rely on PeopleSoft, one of the first client-server solutions introduced in the 1990s to store student records, which typically includes personally identifiable information (PII), such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, transcripts, schedules, financial aid history, and more. Though it remains a powerful and functional solution, PeopleSoft has no built-in support for modern security standards such as multifactor authentication or SSO, nor does it easily connect to Microsoft Entra ID to bridge the gap.

As a result, CGU students and staff needed to log into an application outside of their secure Microsoft account to access and update information in PeopleSoft. This led to confusion and frustration for them and significant ongoing support issues and trouble tickets related to password management. It also increased security risks as users who must remember multiple passwords are more likely to write them down and leave them where others can access them.

“With Datawiza, CGU was able to rapidly enhance security and improve the user experience for Oracle PeopleSoft through [multifactor authentication] and SSO without having to go through the time and expense of coding their own connector,” said Manoj Chitre, Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Technology Services and Information Systems at Claremont Graduate University. “The response from students and staff has been tremendous. Users no longer need to maintain and remember a separate PeopleSoft password, and the number of trouble tickets related to PeopleSoft login issues has plummeted.”

Today, nearly 2,000 GCU students and staff access PeopleSoft through multifactor authentication and their single SSO password, completely eliminating the unnecessary security risk, as well as all the time and resource-consuming effort associated with IT having to maintain a separate password environment for PeopleSoft.

“Microsoft Entra ID is the flagship of our identity and access solutions which help organizations secure access to everything in a hybrid, multicloud world. We are pleased to see companies like Datawiza support this mission through the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association.” 

– Irina Nechaeva, General Manager, Identity, Microsoft

Datawiza, the Zero Trust Access Management Platform

Datawiza provides Microsoft Entra ID-based SSO and multifactor authentication integration with PeopleSoft using Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) or OpenID Connect. The cloud-native, no-code or low-code Datawiza platform can be deployed in minutes and connected to PeopleSoft—and other legacy or on-premises applications—without the need for Oracle Access Manager or Oracle Identity Cloud Service and without any application patches or additional installations for the existing PeopleSoft deployment.

Once PeopleSoft is connected to Microsoft Entra ID, IT administrators can also easily apply existing Microsoft Entra Conditional Access policies to PeopleSoft.

Datawiza is a simple, highly secure platform consisting of two major components. The Datawiza Access Proxy (DAP) is a lightweight container-based proxy. DAP integrates with identity providers to enable SSO, multifactor authentication, and granular authorization. DAP can be deployed in a customer’s environment or hosted by the Datawiza Cloud. The Datawiza Cloud Management Console (DCMC) is a centralized console for configuring access policies. DCMC aggregates logs and provides visibility. Once the solution is set up and configured by Datawiza, IT administrators will only need to manage user access through the DCMC.

Datawiza: A trusted solution

Datawiza joined the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association Program (MISA) in February 2021, and the solution has previously been described in detail in a MISA blog post. Datawiza is also a fully managed service built by security experts, eliminating the need for a university’s IT team to deploy and manage a new solution or hire or contract with additional security expertise. This makes the combination of Datawiza and Microsoft the easiest and most powerful way to rapidly improve security and user access for the valuable data stored in PeopleSoft.

Microsoft Entra ID

Safeguard your organization with a cloud identity and access management solution that connects employees, customers, and partners to their apps, devices, and data.

Learn more and try free

Learn more

The Datawiza Platform is available in the Microsoft commercial marketplace. More information and a free trial are also available on the Datawiza website.

To learn more about the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), visit our website, where you can learn about the MISA program, product integrations, and find MISA members. Visit the video playlist to learn about the strength of member integrations with Microsoft products.    

Learn more about Microsoft Entra ID.

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity. 

The post How Datawiza uses Microsoft Entra ID to help universities simplify access appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.

Generative AI will empower individuals and organizations to increase productivity and accelerate their work, but these tools can also be susceptible to internal and external risk. Attackers are already using AI to launch, scale, and even automate new and sophisticated cyberattacks, all without writing a single line of code. Machine learning demands have increased as well, leading to an abundance of workload identities across corporate multicloud environments. This makes it more complex for identity and access professionals to secure, permission, and track a growing set of human and machine identities.

Adopting a comprehensive defense-in-depth strategy that spans identity, endpoint, and network can help your organization be better prepared for the opportunities and challenges we face in 2024 and beyond. To confidently secure identity and access at your organization, here are five areas worth prioritizing in the new year:

1. Empower your workforce with Microsoft Security Copilot.
2. Enforce least privilege access everywhere, including AI apps.
3. Get prepared for more sophisticated attacks.
4. Unify access policies across identity, endpoint, and network security.
5. Control identities and access for multicloud.

Our recommendations come from serving thousands of customers, collaborating with the industry, and continuously protecting the digital economy from a rapidly evolving threat landscape.

Microsoft Entra

Learn how unified multicloud identity and network access help you protect and verify identities, manage permissions, and enforce intelligent access policies, all in one place.

Explore Microsoft Entra

Priority 1: Empower your workforce with Microsoft Security Copilot

This year generative AI will become deeply infused into cybersecurity solutions and play a critical role in securing access. Identities, both human and machine, are multiplying at a faster rate than ever—as are identity-based attacks. Sifting through sign-in logs to investigate or remediate identity risks does not scale to the realities of cybersecurity talent shortages when there are more than 4,000 identity attacks per second.¹ To stay ahead of malicious actors, identity professionals need all the help they can get. Here’s where Microsoft Security Copilot can make a big difference at your organization and help cut through today’s noisy security landscape. Generative AI can meaningfully augment the talent and ingenuity of your identity experts with automations that work at machine-speed and intelligence.

Based on the latest Work Trend Index, business leaders are empowering workers with AI to increase productivity and help employees with repetitive and low value tasks.² Early adopters of Microsoft Security Copilot, our AI companion for cybersecurity teams, have seen a 44% increase in efficiency and 86% increase in quality of work.³ Identity teams can use natural language prompts in Copilot to reduce time spent on common tasks, such as troubleshooting sign-ins and minimizing gaps in identity lifecycle workflows. It can also strengthen and uplevel expertise in the team with more advanced capabilities like investigating users and sign-ins associated with security incidents while taking immediate corrective action. 

To get the most out of your AI investments, identity teams will need to build a consistent habit of using their AI companions. Once your workforce becomes comfortable using these tools, it is time to start building a company prompt library that outlines the specific queries commonly used for various company tasks, projects, and business processes. This will equip all current and future workers with an index of shortcuts that they can use to be productive immediately.

How to get started: Check out this Microsoft Learn training on the fundamentals of generative AI, and subscribe for updates on Microsoft Security Copilot to be the first to hear about new product innovations, the latest generative AI tips, and upcoming events.

Priority 2: Enforce least privilege access everywhere, including AI apps

One of the most common questions we hear is how to secure access to AI apps—especially those in corporate (sanctioned) and third-party (unsanctioned) environments. Insider risks like data leakage or spoilage can lead to tainted large language models, confidential data being shared in apps that are not monitored, or the creation of rogue user accounts that are easily compromised. The consequences of excessively permissioned users are especially damaging within sanctioned AI apps where users who are incorrectly permissioned can quickly gain access to and manipulate company data that was never meant for them.

Ultimately, organizations must secure their AI applications with the same identity and access governance rules they apply to the rest of their corporate resources. This can be done with an identity governance solution, which lets you define and roll out granular access policies for all your users and company resources, including the generative AI apps your organization decides to adopt. As a result, only the right people will have the right level of access to the right resources. The access lifecycle can be automated at scale through controls like identity verification, entitlement management, lifecycle workflows, access requests, reviews, and expirations. 

To enforce least privilege access, make sure that all sanctioned apps and services, including generative AI apps, are managed by your identity and access solution. Then, define or update your access policies with a tool like Microsoft Entra ID Governance that controls who, when, why, and how long users retain access to company resources. Use lifecycle workflows to automate user access policies so that any time a user’s status changes, they still maintain the correct level of access. Where applicable, extend custom governance rules and user experiences to any customer, vendor, contractor, or partner by integrating Microsoft Entra External ID, a customer identity and access management (CIAM) solution. For high-risk actions, require proof of identity in real-time using Microsoft Entra Verified ID. Microsoft Security Copilot also comes with built-in governance policies, tailored specifically for generative AI applications, to prevent misuse.

How to get started: Read the guide to securely govern AI and other business-critical applications in your environment. Make sure your governance strategy abides by least privilege access principles.

Priority 3: Get prepared for more sophisticated attacks

Not only are known attacks like password spray increasing in intensity, speed, and scale, but new attack techniques are being developed rapidly that pose a serious threat to unprepared teams. Multifactor authentication adds a layer of security, but cybercriminals can still find ways around it. More sophisticated attacks like token theft, cookie replay, and AI-powered phishing campaigns are also becoming more prevalent. Identity teams need to adapt to a new cyberthreat landscape where bad actors can automate the full lifecycle of a threat campaign—all without writing a single line of code.

To stay safe in today’s relentless identity threat landscape, we recommend taking a multi-layered approach. Start by implementing phishing-resistant multifactor authentication that is based on cryptography or biometrics such as Windows Hello, FIDO2 security keys, certificate-based authentication, and passkeys (both roaming and device-bound). These methods can help you combat more than 99% of identity attacks as well as advanced phishing and social engineering schemes.⁴ 

For sophisticated attacks like token theft and cookie replay, have in place a machine learning-powered identity protection tool and Secure Web Gateway (SWG) to detect a wide range of risk signals that flag unusual user behavior. Then use continuous access evaluation (CAE) with token protection features to respond to risk signals in real-time and block, challenge, limit, revoke, or allow user access. For new attacks like one-time password (OTP) bots that take advantage of multifactor authentication fatigue, educate employees about common social engineering tactics and use the Microsoft Authenticator app to suppress sign-in prompts when a multifactor authentication fatigue attack is detected. Finally, for high assurance scenarios, consider using verifiable credentials—digital identity claims from authoritative sources—to quickly verify an individual’s credentials and grant least privilege access with confidence. 

Customize your policies in the Microsoft Entra admin center to mandate strong, phishing resistant authentication for any scenario, including step up authentication with Microsoft Entra Verified ID. Make sure to implement an identity protection tool like Microsoft Entra ID Protection, which now has token protection capabilities, to detect and flag risky user signals that your risk-based CAE engine can actively respond to. Lastly, secure all internet traffic, including all software as a service (SaaS) apps, with Microsoft Entra Internet Access, an identity-centric SWG that shields users against malicious internet traffic and unsafe content.  

How to get started: To quick start your defense-in-depth campaign, we’ve developed default access policies that make it easy to implement security best practices, such as requiring multifactor authentication for all users. Check out these guides on requiring phishing-resistant multifactor authentication and planning your conditional access deployment. Finally, read up on our token protection, continuous access evaluation, and multifactor authentication fatigue suppression capabilities.

Priority 4: Unify access policies across identity, endpoint, and network security

In most organizations, the identity, endpoint, and network security functions are siloed, with teams using different technologies for managing access. This is problematic because it requires conditional access changes to be made in multiple places, increasing the chance of security holes, redundancies, and inconsistent access policies between teams. Identity, endpoint, and network tools need to be integrated under one policy engine, as neither category alone can protect all access points.

By adopting a Zero Trust security model that spans identity, endpoint, and network security, you can easily manage and enforce granular access policies in one place. This helps reduce operational complexity and can eliminate gaps in policy coverage. Plus, by enforcing universal conditional access policies from a single location, your policy engine can analyze a more diverse set of signals such as network, identity, endpoint, and application conditions before granting access to any resource—without making any code changes. 

Microsoft’s Security Service Edge (SSE) solution is identity-aware and is delivering a unique innovation to the SSE category by bringing together identity, endpoint, and network security access policies. The solution includes Microsoft Entra Internet Access, an SWG for safeguarding SaaS apps and internet traffic, as well as Microsoft Entra Private Access, a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solution for securing access to all applications and resources. When you unify your network and identity access policies, it is easier to secure access and manage your organization’s conditional access lifecycle.

How to get started: Read these blogs to learn why their identity-aware designs make Microsoft Entra Internet Access and Microsoft Entra Private Access unique to the SSE category. To learn about the different use cases and scenarios, configuration prerequisites, and how to enable secure access, go to the Microsoft Entra admin center. 

Priority 5: Control identities and access for multicloud

Today, as multicloud adoption increases, it is harder than ever to gain full visibility over which identities, human or machine, have access to what resources across your various clouds.  Plus, with the massive increase in AI-driven workloads, the number of machine identities being used in multicloud environments is quickly rising, outnumbering human identities 10 to 1.⁵ Many of these identities are created with excessive permissions and little to no governance, with less than 5% of permissions granted actually used, suggesting that a vast majority of machine identities are not abiding by least privilege access principles. As a result, attackers have shifted their attention to apps, homing in on workload identities as a vulnerable new threat vector. Organizations need a unified control center for managing workload identities and permissions across all their clouds.

Securing access to your multicloud infrastructure across all identity types starts with selecting the methodology that makes sense for your organization. Zero Trust provides an excellent, customizable framework that applies just as well to workload identities as it does to human identities. You can effectively apply these principles with a cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM) platform, which provides deep insights into the permissions granted across your multicloud, how they are used, and the ability to right size those permissions. Extending these controls to your machine identities will require a purpose-built tool for workload identities that uses strong credentials, conditional access policies, anomaly and risk signal monitoring, access reviews, and location restrictions.

Unifying and streamlining the management of your organization’s multicloud starts with diagnosing the health of your multicloud infrastructure with Microsoft Entra Permissions Management, which will help you discover, detect, right-size, and govern your organization’s multicloud identities. Then, using Microsoft Entra Workload ID, migrate your workload identities to managed identities where possible and apply strong Zero Trust principles and conditional access controls to them.

How to get started: Start a Microsoft Entra Permissions Management free trial to assess the state of your organization’s multicloud environment, then take the recommended actions to remediate any access right risks. Also, use Microsoft Entra Workload ID to assign conditional access policies to all of your apps, services, and machine identities based on least privilege principles.

Our commitment to continued partnership with you

It is our hope that the strategies in this blog help you form an actionable roadmap for securing access at your organization—for everyone, to everything.

But access security is not a one-way street, it is your continuous feedback that enables us to provide truly customer-centric solutions to the identity and access problems we face in 2024 and beyond.  We are grateful for the continued partnership and dialogue with you—from day-to-day interactions, to joint deployment planning, to the direct feedback that informs our strategy. As always, we remain committed to building the products and tools you need to defend your organization throughout 2024 and beyond.

Learn more about Microsoft Entra, or recap the identity at Microsoft Ignite blog.

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

¹Microsoft Digital Defense Report, Microsoft. October 2023. 

²Work Trend Index Annual Report: Will AI Fix Work? Microsoft. May 9, 2023.

³Microsoft unveils expansion of AI for security and security for AI at Microsoft Ignite, Vasu Jakkal. November 15, 2023.

⁴How effective is multifactor authentication at deterring cyberattacks? Microsoft.

⁵2023 State of Cloud Permissions Risks report now published, Alex Simons. March 28, 2023.

The post 5 ways to secure identity and access for 2024 appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.

Along with every merger and acquisition between two companies comes the need to combine and strengthen their IT infrastructure. In particular, there is an immediate and profound impact on the identity and access management (IAM) postures of both companies. With a newly combined workforce, where does all the user information live? Where are the authentications going to be handled? What changes are going to be made for authorization to applications; will users have access to the apps of the other organization? All these problems must be solved quickly in order to provide continuous day-to-day operations in a secure way.

While most combined organizations aspire to eventually consolidate their identity systems, this is a challenging and time-consuming process. The untangling (and re-entangling) of dozens or hundreds of enterprise applications and their identity stacks takes time and deliberation. Meanwhile, there may be immense pressure from users and app owners for secure access to the appropriate apps, along with pressure from regulators and investors to unlock and demonstrate value from the combined organization. Not to mention the pressure from investors and the board to deliver immediate value after the transaction’s close.

As one of the most comprehensive and advanced IAM platforms available today, Microsoft Entra ID is often the choice to be the dominant set of identity services in the combined architecture. Microsoft strives to make the merger and acquisition process as easy as possible and works with Strata Identity for a seamless integration. Strata’s Maverics Identity Orchestration platform does this by acting as abstraction layer to accelerate and simplify the path to consolidation.

The identity challenges with mergers and acquisitions

Addressing IAM issues is one of the most pressing issues in a merger and acquisition scenario. Typically, other operational issues such as application workloads can continue to operate in their status quo indefinitely until such time as it makes sense to address them. The cybersecurity implications of user access, however, are immediate and need to be addressed quickly, whether this be through some sort of identity consolidation, or through a higher-level abstraction encompassing the existing systems.

One factor that makes a migration complex is the tendency for applications to be tightly coupled with their current identity provider (IdP). When creating an application, developers and app owners may end up writing code that is very specific to their current IdP. Switching that IdP is seldom trivial, especially for long-lived applications that may have been written against a now-legacy protocol, or may have “rolled their own” authentication and authorization. Very often this calls for a complete rewrite of the application; an onerous task that is particularly daunting years or decades after its inception, when the original app team may be long gone.

This makes the common natural approach of wholesale migration somewhat untenable, especially with the time constraints imposed by governance and regulation. Even disregarding those factors, the sheer expense of refactoring and rewriting a sizable portion of your application library—anything older than about five years is probably using an outdated security profile—is prohibitively expensive.

The end goal in a merger and acquisition scenario is to quickly (and cost effectively) transition to a unified and tractable IAM posture, despite having a mix of user pools, protocols, and applications tightly coupled. Such transitions often need to happen in weeks or months, whereas a wholesale rewrite-and-migration might take years.

Microsoft Entra ID

Safeguard your organization with a cloud identity and access management solution that connects employees, customers, and partners to their apps, devices, and data.

Learn more and try free

Addressing your merger and acquisition challenges with Microsoft Entra ID and Strata Identity

Strata Identity takes a different approach to the challenges of managing disparate identity systems during a merger or acquisition. Instead of focusing on a migration of identities, Strata’s Maverics Identity Orchestration Platform provides an abstraction layer on top of your apps, IdPs, and services to enable you to create your own identity fabric.

The Maverics Platform is composed of individual Orchestrators distributed throughout the target environment. These lightweight Orchestrators can live anywhere within the infrastructure on any operating system within Kubernetes clusters or just on standalone virtual machines. They act as a distributed mesh of control, able to pull identity information from any system—whether that be through directing for authentication or just pulling additional user information for an existing session—and convert identity information into the formats needed and expected by applications.

Importantly, this approach means that existing applications do not need to be refactored or rewritten as part of the identity consolidation process. Any application that cannot be trivially swapped over to a new source of identity information—and, importantly, that isn’t up-to-date on the very latest security practices—is simply harnessed by Maverics. It continues to consume identity information in the way that it has always known and Maverics handles the rest. Sessions that are allowed to flow through to the application have had the Microsoft Entra identity controls applied for both authentication and authorization before the traffic is permitted to reach the application in the first place. Even app owners have their burdens reduced significantly, being needed only for some basic smoke testing during a changeover.

This also allows for a deliberate and calculated roll out of changes to your infrastructure. No more stressful projects with hard cutover dates, with those long all-or-nothing weekend cutovers and the associated frantic testing of every application to make sure everything transitioned smoothly. Using the Maverics platform from Strata allows for measured incremental changes. Cutover a single application, at a time—or even a subset of an application’s users—and test with leisure.

Better yet, if any issues are found the rollback is trivial. Since Maverics is acting as an abstraction layer over the identity process, the swapping between user stores or IdPs is handled in one simple interface. The user is unlikely to notice any impact at all as changes are made—either to migrate to the new identity source or to roll back to the old configuration.

Another benefit of this approach is that user impacting changes can be rolled out with deliberation, giving users a chance to acclimate to any new process. Let’s say, for instance, that as part of your migration you need to add multifactor authentication to a body of users that didn’t use it previously. The identity abstraction layer allows you to notify your users of impending changes, and can even assist in the enrollment of the new security factors.

This abstraction layer lets Maverics serve as the single pane of glass through which you can view the combined identity systems, securely controlling all access while, at the same time, making the incremental updates and changes to move the locus of control from these disparate systems into Microsoft Entra ID.

Strata Identity: The last mile in mergers and acquisitions with Microsoft Entra ID

With Strata’s Maverics Orchestration Platform, mergers and acquisitions don’t have to be a long, risky, and labor-intensive effort. By adding an abstraction layer over the existing identity stacks, Strata makes shifting control of authentication and authorization over to Microsoft Entra ID seamless and simple, regardless of how complex and disjointed the previous implementation might have been. Strata also prevents the nightmare of having to rewrite all your apps, using its ability to harness legacy apps with modern identity protocols to save your team immense time and effort.

About Strata Identity

Strata Identity is a pioneer in Identity Orchestration for multicloud and hybrid cloud. The orchestration recipe-powered Maverics platform enables organizations to integrate and control incompatible identity systems with an identity fabric that does not change the user experience or require rewriting apps. By decoupling applications from identity, Maverics makes it possible to implement modern authentication, like passwordless, and enforce consistent access policies without refactoring apps.

The Maverics platform is available on the Azure Marketplace and is an IP co-sell Benefits Eligible solution.

Learn more

Learn more about Microsoft Entra ID.

To learn more about the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), visit our website where you can learn about the MISA program, product integrations, and find MISA members. Visit the video playlist to learn about the strength of member integrations with Microsoft products.   

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and Twitter (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

The post How Strata Identity and Microsoft Entra ID solve identity challenges in mergers and acquisitions appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.