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Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Blog
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SafeLinks Protection for Links Generated by M365 Copilot Chat and Office Apps

UrjaGandhi's avatar
UrjaGandhi
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May 05, 2025

The world is experiencing rapid changes, with artificial intelligence (AI) significantly transforming businesses and lifestyles. Additionally, it is impacting cybersecurity, as attackers leverage AI to refine their techniques. Microsoft is committed to ensuring that its AI-powered tools are secure and reliable for business applications. The security of AI remains a primary focus.

M365 Copilot Chat

Copilot serves as the user interface for AI, beginning with Copilot Chat. It is the chat experience utilized daily, powered by extensive knowledge from the web and designed to ensure safety and security for business applications. This platform signifies a fundamental change in our work methods, allowing individuals to operate more intelligently, efficiently, and collaboratively.

While Copilot Chat is a powerful new on-ramp for everyone in your organization to build the AI habit, Microsoft 365 Copilot remains our best-in-class personal AI assistant for work. It includes everything in Copilot Chat and more.   

M365 Copilot Chat
Enhancing Security of M365 Copilot Chat with SafeLinks 

We are excited to announce some important updates to M365 Copilot Chat that will enhance security and user experience:

1. SafeLinks protection at Time-of-Click of URL 

Microsoft Defender for Office 365's SafeLinks protection has been successfully released worldwide for Copilot Chat on Desktop, Web, Outlook Mobile, Teams Mobile and Microsoft 365 Copilot Mobile app (iOS and Android)! 

User with MDO license clicks on a malicious link in Copilot ChatUser with MDO license clicks on a malicious link in Copilot Chat on Mobile
  • This functionality applies to users with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 or Plan 2 service plans. No policy configuration is needed within the SafeLinks policy. 
  • Within Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Security Center, the URL protection report will show the relevant summary and trend views for threats detected and actions taken on URL clicks generated from within M365 Copilot Chat.
URL threat protection report showing clicks on a malicious link from Copilot Chat
  • Moreover, Security Operations Center analysts will be able to see the source of the originating URL clicks in the investigation and hunting experiences within Microsoft Defender for Office 365.  

2. Native Time-of-Click URL Reputation Check:

  • For users without SafeLinks protection (which is available as part of Microsoft Defender for Office 365), M365 Copilot Chat will natively enable time-of-click URL reputation check for the hyperlinks returned in its chat responses.  
User without MDO license clicks on a malicious link in Copilot ChatUser without MDO license clicks on a malicious link in Copilot Chat on Mobile

3. Hyperlink Display Changes:

  • M365 Copilot Chat no longer redacts hyperlinks in its chat responses if they are found in the grounding data used to generate the responses. 

These updates ensure that M365 Copilot Chat remains a secure and reliable tool for your organization, helping you navigate the complexities of modern cybersecurity. 

What’s Next?

Following this release, SafeLinks protection will be available to Copilot App Chats for Word, PowerPoint and Excel.  

Conclusion 

As AI continues to evolve, so do the threats that come with it. At Microsoft, we are dedicated to staying ahead of these threats and providing our customers with the tools they need to stay secure. With the integration of SafeLinks, M365 Copilot Chat is poised to be a game-changer in the world of business AI. 

Note: This blog post is associated with Message Center post MC1013453. 

Learn more 

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 SafeLinks protection
M365 Copilot Chat 

Updated May 05, 2025
Version 1.0
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