AI brands as bait: How threat actors are using the AI hype in social engineering
As threat actors operationalize AI to accelerate attacks, they are also leveraging the wider global interest around AI itself as a social engineering lure.
Social engineering and phishing
Social engineering and phishing attacks continue to be the top attack vectors, exploiting human behavior and errors to gain access to sensitive information or advance an attack. Get the latest insights on these threats and how to prevent them.
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Breaking the code: Multi-stage ‘code of conduct’ phishing campaign leads to AiTM token compromise
Microsoft Defender Research observed a large-scale credential theft campaign that exemplifies this trend, using code of conduct-themed lures, a multi-step attack chain, and legitimate email services to distribute fully authenticated messages from attacker-controlled domains. -
Email threat landscape: Q1 2026 trends and insights
In early 2026, email threats increased with a rise in credential phishing, QR code phishing, and CAPTCHA-gated campaigns, highlighted by Microsoft’s disruption of the Tycoon2FA phishing platform which led to a 15% volume decrease and shifts in threat actor tactics. -
Dissecting Sapphire Sleet’s macOS intrusion from lure to compromise
The Microsoft Defender Security Research Team uncovered a sophisticated macOS intrusion campaign attributed to the North Korean threat actor Sapphire Sleet that abuses user driven execution and social engineering to bypass macOS security protections and steal credentials, cryptocurrency assets, and sensitive data. Retain Microsoft Security Experts
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When tax season becomes cyberattack season: Phishing and malware campaigns using tax-related lures
During tax season, threat actors reliably take advantage of the urgency and familiarity of time-sensitive emails, including refund notices, payroll forms, filing reminders, and requests from tax professionals, to push malicious attachments, links, or QR codes. -
Storm-2561 uses SEO poisoning to distribute fake VPN clients for credential theft
Storm-2561 uses SEO poisoning to push fake VPN downloads that install signed trojans and steal VPN credentials. -
AI as tradecraft: How threat actors operationalize AI
Threat actors are operationalizing AI to scale and sustain malicious activity, accelerating tradecraft and increasing risk for defenders, as illustrated by recent activity from North Korean groups such as Jasper Sleet and Coral Sleet (formerly Storm-1877). -
Inside Tycoon2FA: How a leading AiTM phishing kit operated at scale
Tycoon2FA has become a leading phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platforms, enabling campaigns that reach over 500,000 organizations monthly, prompting Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) to work with Europol and industry partners to facilitate a disruption of Tycoon2FA’s infrastructure and operations. Modernize your Security Operations Center with Microsoft Sentinel
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Inside RedVDS: How a single virtual desktop provider fueled worldwide cybercriminal operations
Microsoft’s investigation into RedVDS services and infrastructure uncovered a global network of disparate cybercriminals purchasing and using to target multiple sectors. -
Phishing actors exploit complex routing and misconfigurations to spoof domains
Threat actors are exploiting complex routing scenarios and misconfigured spoof protections to send spoofed phishing emails, crafted to appear as internally sent messages. -
Inside the attack chain: Threat activity targeting Azure Blob Storage
Azure Blob Storage is a high-value target for threat actors due to its critical role in storing and managing massive amounts of unstructured data at scale across diverse workloads and is increasingly targeted through sophisticated attack chains that exploit misconfigurations, exposed credentials, and evolving cloud tactics. -
Investigating targeted “payroll pirate” attacks affecting US universities
Microsoft Threat Intelligence has identified a financially motivated threat actor that we track as Storm-2657 compromising employee accounts to gain unauthorized access to employee profiles and divert salary payments to attacker-controlled accounts, attacks that have been dubbed “payroll pirate”.
