ASCII smuggling crosses over from AI prompt injection to phishing evasion
Invisible Unicode characters popularized for hiding instructions from AI models are now being used to obfuscate words before email filters parse them.
Research
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Impersonating IT support: how threat actors turn a remote session into enterprise-wide access
Microsoft Threat Intelligence observed a human-operated intrusion campaign that abuses Microsoft Teams external collaboration to impersonate IT support, gain remote access, and deploy a Node. -
Counterfeit installers to system compromise: Tracking a deceptive software download campaign
An active campaign is impersonating legitimate software vendors to deliver malware through look-alike download pages and regenerated installer archives. -
Cybersecurity IR Workshop: The workshop you shouldn’t miss
Cyber resilience starts before a crisis. Gain practical insights from DART to strengthen readiness and response. Retain Microsoft Defender Experts
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TerminalFix campaign deploys a reverse tunnel through multistage intrusion
Microsoft Threat Intelligence provides analysis of a ClickFix campaign that uses fake CAPTCHA prompts, DLL sideloading, and a reverse tunnel, with detections and hunting guidance. -
When AI infrastructure becomes the target: Securing gateways and control points
Microsoft Threat Intelligence examines attacks on exposed AI workloads, including LiteLLM gateway exploitation, credential harvesting, persistence, and cryptomining activity. -
Hunting MacSync Stealer infrastructure through behavioral pivots
MacSync Stealer rapidly rotates domains to evade detection, but its behavior remains consistent. -
DeadLock ransomware: Breaking down a Rust-based encryptor with decentralized recovery infrastructure
Microsoft Threat Intelligence examines DeadLock ransomware, an emerging financially motivated operation distinguished by its use of decentralized infrastructure to support victim communications, negotiations, and data leak operations alongside double extortion tactics used to pressure victims. Modernize your Security Operations Center with Microsoft Sentinel
Microsoft Sentinel is a cloud-native SIEM solution powered by AI and automation that delivers intelligent security analytics across your entire enterprise.
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From open lures to cloaked gates: How a macOS ClickFix campaign learned to hide
A macOS ClickFix campaign shifted tactics from openly serving infostealer lures to hiding them behind a browser-fingerprinting gate. -
ChainDrop supply chain compromise: Anatomy of a self-propagating worm
A credential-stealing worm hidden in more than 400 compromised npm packages automatically spread across software ecosystems by republishing malicious updates. -
128 Seconds to disruption: Microsoft Defender stops ransomware at QNET
Microsoft Defender automatically isolated a compromised QNET endpoint in 128 seconds, stopping a multi-stage attack before the payload could persist or spread. -
CaptiveCrunch: Midnight Blizzard targets travelers worldwide for malware delivery and credential theft
Storm-2945, a sub-cluster of the Russian threat actor Midnight Blizzard, has been observed compromising the sign-in portals of hospitality-related organizations such as hotels since May 2026 in order to deliver malware to travelers and steal credentials in an operation we call CaptiveCrunch.
