Announcing AI Entity Analyzer in Microsoft Sentinel MCP Server - Public Preview
What is the Entity Analyzer? Assessing the risk of entities is a core task for SOC teams - whether triaging incidents, investigating threats, or automating response workflows. Traditionally, this has required building complex playbooks or custom logic to gather and analyze fragmented security data from multiple sources. With Entity Analyzer, this complexity starts to fade away. The tool leverages your organization’s security data in Sentinel to deliver comprehensive, reasoned risk assessments for any entity you encounter - starting with users and urls. By providing this unified, out-of-the-box solution for entity analysis, Entity Analyzer also enables the AI agents you build to make smarter decisions and automate more tasks - without the need to manually engineer risk evaluation logic for each entity type. And for those building SOAR workflows, Entity Analyzer is natively integrated with Logic Apps, making it easy to enrich incidents and automate verdicts within your playbooks. *Entity Analyzer is rolling out in Public Preview to Sentinel MCP server and within Logic Apps starting today. Learn more here. **Leave feedback on the Entity Analyzer here. Deep Dive: How the User Analyzer is already solving problems for security teams Problem: Drowning in identity alerts Security operations centers (SOCs) are inundated with identity-based threats and alert noise. Triaging these alerts requires analyzing numerous data sources across sign-in logs, cloud app events, identity info, behavior analytics, threat intel, and more, all in tandem with each other to reach a verdict - something very challenging to do without a human in the loop today. So, we introduced the User Analyzer, a specialized analyzer that unifies, correlates, and analyzes user activity across all these security data sources. Government of Nunavut: solving identity alert overload with User Analyzer Hear the below from Arshad Sheikh, Security Expert at Government of Nunavut, on how they're using the User Analyzer today: How it's making a difference "Before the User Analyzer, when we received identity alerts we had to check a large amount of data related to users’ activity (user agents, anomalies, IP reputation, etc.). We had to write queries, wait for them to run, and then manually reason over the results. We attempted to automate some of this, but maintaining and updating that retrieval, parsing, and reasoning automation was difficult and we didn’t have the resources to support it. With the User Analyzer, we now have a plug-and-play solution that represents a step toward the AI-driven automation of the future. It gathers all the context such as what the anomalies are and presents it to our analysts so they can make quick, confident decisions, eliminating the time previously spent manually gathering this data from portals." Solving a real problem "For example, every 24 hours we create a low severity incident of our users who successfully sign-in to our network non interactively from outside of our GEO fence. This type of activity is not high-enough fidelity to auto-disable, requiring us to manually analyze the flagged users each time. But with User Analyzer, this analysis is performed automatically. The User Analyzer has also significantly reduced the time required to determine whether identity-based incidents like these are false positives or true positives. Instead of spending around 20 minutes investigating each incident, our analysts can now reach a conclusion in about 5 minutes using the automatically generated summary." Looking ahead "Looking ahead, we see even more potential. In the future, the User Analyzer could be integrated directly with Microsoft Sentinel playbooks to take automated, definitive action such as blocking user or device access based on the analyzer’s results. This would further streamline our incident response and move us closer to fully automated security operations." Want similar benefits in your SOC? Get started with our Entity Analyzer Logic Apps template here. User Analyzer architecture: how does it work? Let’s take a look at how the User Analyzer works. The User Analyzer aggregates and correlates signals from multiple data sources to deliver a comprehensive analysis, enabling informed actions based on user activity. The diagram below gives an overview of this architecture: Step 1: Retrieve Data The analyzer starts by retrieving relevant data from the following sources: Sign-In Logs (Interactive & Non-Interactive): Tracks authentication and login activity. Security Alerts: Alerts from Microsoft Defender solutions. Behavior Analytics: Surfaces behavioral anomalies through advanced analytics. Cloud App Events: Captures activity from Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps. Identity Information: Enriches user context with identity records. Microsoft Threat Intelligence: Enriches IP addresses with Microsoft Threat Intelligence. Steps 2: Correlate signals Signals are correlated using identifiers such as user IDs, IP addresses, and threat intelligence. Rather than treating each alert or behavior in isolation, the User Analyzer fuses signals to build a holistic risk profile. Step 3: AI-based reasoning In the User Analyzer, multiple AI-powered agents collaborate to evaluate the evidence and reach consensus. This architecture not only improves accuracy and reduces bias in verdicts, but also provides transparent, justifiable decisions. Leveraging AI within the User Analyzer introduces a new dimension of intelligence to threat detection. Instead of relying on static signatures or rigid regex rules, AI-based reasoning can uncover subtle anomalies that traditional detection methods and automation playbooks often miss. For example, an attacker might try to evade detection by slightly altering a user-agent string or by targeting and exfiltrating only a few files of specific types. While these changes could bypass conventional pattern matching, an AI-powered analyzer understands the semantic context and behavioral patterns behind these artifacts, allowing it to flag suspicious deviations even when the syntax looks benign. Step 4: Verdict & analysis Each user is given a verdict. The analyzer outputs any of the following verdicts based on the analysis: Compromised Suspicious activity found No evidence of compromise Based on the verdict, a corresponding recommendation is given. This helps teams make an informed decision whether action should be taken against the user. *AI-generated content from the User Analyzer may be incorrect - check it for accuracy. User Analyzer Example Output See the following example output from the user analyzer within an incident comment: *IP addresses have been redacted for this blog* &CK techniques, a list of malicious IP addresses the user signed in from (redacted for this blog), and a few suspicious user agents the user's activity originated from. typically have to query and analyze these themselves, feel more comfortable trusting its classification. The analyzer also gives recommendations to remediate the account compromise, and a list of data sources it used during analysis. Conclusion Entity Analyzer in Microsoft Sentinel MCP server represents a leap forward in alert triage & analysis. By correlating signals and harnessing AI-based reasoning, it empowers SOC teams to act on investigations with greater speed, precision, and confidence. *Leave feedback on the Entity Analyzer hereFake Employees, Real Threat: Decentralized Identity to combat Deepfake Hiring?
In recent months, cybersecurity experts have sounded the alarm on a surge of fake “employees” – job candidates who are not who they claim to be. These fraudsters use everything from fabricated CVs and stolen identities to AI-generated deepfake videos in interviews to land jobs under false pretenses. It’s a global phenomenon making headlines on LinkedIn and in the press. With the topic surfacing everywhere, I wanted to take a closer look at what’s really going on — and explore the solutions that could help organizations respond to this growing challenge. And as it happens, one solution is finally reaching maturity at exactly the right moment: decentralized identity. Let me walk you through it. But first, let’s look at a few troubling facts: Even tech giants aren’t immune. Amazon’s Chief Security Officer revealed that since April 2024 the company has blocked over 1,800 suspected North Korean scammers from getting hired, and that the volume of such fake applicants jumped 27% each quarter this year (1.1). In fact, a coordinated scheme involving North Korean IT operatives posing as remote workers has infiltrated over 300 U.S. companies since 2020, generating at least $6.8 million in revenue for the regime (2.1). CrowdStrike also reported more than 320 confirmed incidents in the past year alone, marking a 220% surge in activity (2.2). And it’s not just North Korea: organised crime groups globally are adopting similar tactics. This trend is not a small blip; it’s likely a sign of things to come. Gartner predicts that by 2028, one in four job applicant profiles could be fake in some way (3). Think about that – in a few years, 25% of the people applying to your jobs might be bots or impostors trying to trick their way in. We’re not just talking about exaggerated resumes; we’re talking about full-scale deception: people hiring stand-ins for interviews, AI bots filling out assessments, and deepfake avatars smiling through video calls. It’s a hiring manager’s nightmare — no one wants to waste time interviewing bots or deepfakes — and a CISO’s worst-case scenario rolled into one. The Rise of the Deepfake Employee What does a “fake employee” actually do? In many cases, these impostors are part of organized schemes (even state-sponsored) to steal money or data. They might forge impressive résumés and create a minimal but believable online presence. During remote interviews, some have been caught using deepfake video filters – basically digital masks – to appear as someone else. In one case, Amazon investigators noticed an interviewee’s typing did not sync with the on-screen video (the keystrokes had a 110ms lag); it turned out to be a North Korean hacker remotely controlling a fake persona on the video call (1.2). Others refuse video entirely, claiming technical issues, so you only hear a voice. Some even hire proxy interviewees – a real person who interviews in their place. The level of creativity is frightening. Once inside, a fake employee can do serious damage. They gain legitimate access to internal systems, data, and tools. Some have stolen sensitive source code and threatened to leak it unless the company paid a ransom (1). Others quietly set up backdoor access for future cyberattacks. And as noted, if they’re part of a nation-state operation, the salary you pay them is funding adversaries. The U.S. Department of Justice recently warned that many North Korean IT workers send the majority of their pay back to the regime’s illicit weapons programs (1)(2.3). Beyond the financial angle, think of the security breach: a malicious actor is now an “insider” with an access badge. No sector is safe. While tech companies with lots of remote jobs were the first targets, the scam has expanded. According to the World Economic Forum, about half of the companies targeted by these attacks aren’t in the tech industry at all (4). Financial services, healthcare, media, energy – any business that hires remote freelancers or IT staff could be at risk. Many Fortune 500 firms have quietly admitted to Charles Carmakal (Chief Technology Officer at Google Cloud’s Mandiant) that they’ve encountered fake candidates (2.3). Brandon Wales — former Executive Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and now VP of Cybersecurity Strategy at SentinelOne — warned that the “scale and speed” of these operations is unlike anything seen before (2.3). Rivka Little, Chief Growth Officer at Socure, put it bluntly: “Every Fortune 100 and potentially Fortune 500 has a pretty high number of risky employees on their books” right now (1). If you’re in charge of security or IT, this should send a chill down your spine. How do you defend against an attack that walks in through your front door (virtually) with HR’s approval? It calls for rethinking some fundamental practices, which leads us to the biggest gap these scams have exposed: identity verification in the hiring process. The Identity Verification Gap in Hiring Let’s face it: traditional hiring and onboarding operate on a lot of trust. You collect a résumé, maybe call some references, do a background check that might catch a criminal record but won’t catch a well-crafted fake identity. You might ask for a copy of a driver’s license or passport to satisfy HR paperwork, but how thoroughly is it checked? And once the person is hired and given an employee account, how often do we re-confirm that person’s identity in the months or years that follow? Almost never. Now let’s look at the situation from the reverse perspective: During your last recruitment, or when you became a new vendor for a client, were you asked to send over a full copy of your ID via email? Most likely, yes. You send a scan of your passport or ID card to an HR representative or a partner’s portal, and you have no idea where that image gets stored, who can see it, or how long it will sit around. It feels uncomfortable, but we do it because we need to prove who we are. In reality, we’re making a leap of faith that the process is secure. This is the identity verification gap. Companies are trusting documents and self-assertions that can be forged, and they rarely have a way to verify those beyond a cursory glance. Fraudsters exploit this gap mercilessly. They provide fake documents that look real, or steal someone else’s identity details to pass background checks. Once they’ve cleared that initial hurdle, the organization treats them as legit. IT sets up accounts, security gives them access, and from then on the “user identity” is assumed to be genuine. Forever. Moreover, once an employee is on board, internal processes often default to trust. Need a password reset? The helpdesk might ask for your birthdate or employee ID – pieces of info a savvy attacker can learn or steal. We don’t usually ask an employee who calls IT to re-prove that they are the same person HR hired months or years ago. All of this stands in contrast to the principle of Zero Trust security that many companies are now adopting. Thanks to John Kindervag (Forrester, 2009), Zero Trust says “never trust, always verify” each access request. But how can you verify if the underlying identity was fake to start with? As part of Microsoft, we often say that “identity is the new perimeter” – meaning the primary defense line is verifying identities, not just securing network walls. If that identity perimeter is built on shaky ground (unverified people), the whole security model is weak. So, what can be done? Security leaders and even the World Economic Forum are advocating for stronger identity proofing in hiring. The WEF specifically recommends “verifiable government ID checks at multiple stages of recruitment and into employment” (4). In other words, don’t just verify once and forget it – verify early, verify often. That might mean an ID and background check when offering the job, another verification during onboarding, and perhaps periodic re-checks or at least on certain events (like when the employee requests elevated privileges). Amazon’s CSO, S. Schmidt, echoed this after battling North Korean fakes; he advised companies to “Implement identity verification at multiple hiring stages and monitor for anomalous technical behavior” as a key defense (1). Of course, doing this manually is tough. You can’t very well ask each candidate to fly in their first day just to show their passport in person, especially with global and remote workforces. That’s where technology is stepping up. Enter the world of Verified ID and decentralized identity. Enter Microsoft Entra Verified ID: proving Identity, not just Checking a Box Imagine if, instead of emailing copies of your passport to every new employer or partner, you could carry a digital identity credential that is already verified and can be trusted by others instantly. That’s the idea behind Microsoft Entra Verified ID. It’s essentially a system for issuing and verifying cryptographically-secure digital identity credentials. Let’s break down what that means in plain terms. At its core, a Verified ID credential is like a digital ID card that lives in an app on your phone. But unlike a photocopy of your driver’s license (which anyone could copy, steal or tamper with), this digital credential is signed with cryptographic keys that make it tamper-proof and verifiable. It’s based on open standards. Microsoft has been heavily involved in the development of Decentralized Identifiers (DID) and W3C Verifiable Credentials standards over the past few years (7). The benefit of standards is that this isn’t a proprietary Microsoft-only thing – it’s part of a broader move toward decentralized identity, where the user is in control of their own credentials. Here’s a real-life analogy: When you go to a bar and need to prove you’re over 18, you show your driver’s license, National ID or Passport. The bouncer checks your birth date and maybe the hologram, but they don’t photocopy your entire ID and keep it; they just verify it and hand it back. You remain in possession of your ID. Now translate that to digital interactions: with Verified ID, you could have a credential on your phone that says “Government ID verified: [Your Name], age 25”. When a verifier (like an employer or service) needs proof, you share that credential through a secure app. The verifier’s system checks the credential’s digital signature to confirm it was issued by a trusted authority (for example, a background check company or a government agency) and that it hasn’t been altered. You don’t have to send over a scan of your actual passport or reveal extra info like your full birthdate or address – the credential can be designed to reveal only the necessary facts (e.g. “is over 18” = yes). This concept is called selective disclosure, and it’s a big win for privacy. Crucially, you decide which credentials to share and with whom. You might have one that proves your legal name and age (from a government issuer), another that proves your employment status (from your employer), another that proves a certification or degree (from a university). And you only share them when needed. They can also have expiration dates or be revoked. For instance, an employment credential could automatically expire when you leave the company. This means if someone tries to use an old credential, it would fail verification – another useful security feature. Now, how do these credentials get issued in the first place? This is where the integration of our Microsoft Partner IDEMIA comes in, which was a highlight of Microsoft Ignite 2025. IDEMIA is a company you might not have heard of, but they’re a huge player in the identity world – they’re the folks behind many government ID and biometric systems (think passport chips, national ID programs, biometric border control, etc.). Microsoft announced that Entra Verified ID now integrate IDEMIA’s identity verification services. In practice, this means when you need a high-assurance credential (like proving your real identity for a job), the system can invoke IDEMIA to do a thorough check. For example, as part of a remote onboarding process, an employer using Verified ID could ask the new hire to verify their identity through IDEMIA. The new hire gets a link or prompt, and is guided to scan their official government ID and take a live selfie video. IDEMIA’s system checks that the ID is authentic (not a forgery) and matches the person’s face, doing so in a privacy-protecting way (for instance, biometric data might be used momentarily to match and then not stored long-term, depending on the service policies). This process confirms “Yes, this is Alice, and we’ve confirmed her identity with a passport and live face check.” At that point, Microsoft Entra Verified ID can issue a credential to Alice, such as “Alice – identity verified by Contoso Corp on [Date]”. Alice stores this credential in her digital wallet (for instance, the Microsoft Authenticator app). Now Alice can present that credential to apps or IT systems to prove it’s really Alice. The employer might require it to activate her accounts, or later if Alice calls IT support, they might ask her to present the credential to prove her identity for a password reset. The verification of the credential is cryptographically secure and instantaneous – the IT system just checks the digital signature. There’s no need to manually pull up Alice’s passport scan from HR files or interrogate her with personal questions. Plus, Alice isn’t repeatedly sending sensitive personal documents; she shared them once with a trusted verifier (IDEMIA via the Verified ID app flow), not with every individual who asks for ID. This reduces the exposure of her personal data. From the company’s perspective, this approach dramatically improves security and streamlines processes. During onboarding, it’s actually faster to have someone go through an automated ID verification flow than to coordinate an in-person verification or trust slow manual checks. Organizations also avoid collecting and storing piles of personal documents, which is a compliance headache and a breach risk. Instead, they get a cryptographic assurance. Think of it like the difference between keeping copies of everyone’s credit card versus using a payment token – the latter is safer and just as effective for the transaction. Microsoft has been laying the groundwork for this for years. Back in 2020 (and even 2017....), Microsoft discussed decentralized identity concepts where users own their identity data and apps verify facts about you through digital attestations (7). Now it’s reality: Entra Verified ID uses those open standards (DID and Verifiable Credentials) under the hood. Plus, the integration with IDEMIA and others means it’s not just theoretical — it’s operational and scalable. As Ankur Patel, one of our product leaders for Microsoft Entra, said about these integrations: it enables “high assurance verification without custom business contracts or technical implementations” (6). In other words, companies can now easily plug this capability in, rather than building their own verification processes from scratch. Before moving on, let’s not forget to include the promised quote from IDEMIA’s exec that really underscores the value: “With more than 40 years of experience in identity issuance, verification and advanced biometrics, our collaboration with Microsoft enables secure authentication with verified identities organizations can rely on to ensure individuals are who they claim to be and critical services can be accessed seamlessly and securely.” – Amit Sharma, Head of Digital Strategy, IDEMIA (6) That quote basically says it all: verified identities that organizations can rely on, enabling seamless and secure access. Now, let’s see how that translates into real-world usage. Use Cases and Benefits: From Onboarding to Recovery How can Verified ID (plus IDEMIA’s) be applied in day-to-day business? There are several high-impact use cases: Remote Employee Onboarding (aka Hire with Confidence): This is the most straightforward scenario. When bringing in a new hire you haven’t met in person, you can integrate an identity verification step. As described earlier, the new employee verifies their government ID and face once, gets a credential, and uses that to start their work. The hiring team can trust that “this person is real and is who they say they are.” This directly prevents many fake-employee scams. In fact, some companies have already tried informal versions of this: The Register reported a story of an identity verification company (ironically) who, after seeing suspicious candidates, told one applicant “next interview we’ll do a document verification, it’s easy, we’ll send you a barcode to scan your ID” – and that candidate never showed up for the next round because they knew they’d be caught (1). With Verified ID, this becomes a standard, automated part of the process, not an ad-hoc test. As a bonus, the employee’s Verified ID credential can also speed up IT onboarding (auto-provisioning accounts when the verified credential is presented) and even simplify things like proving work authorization to other services (think how you often have to send copies of IDs to benefits providers or background screeners – a credential could replace that). The new hire starts faster, and with less anxiety because they know there’s a strong proof attached to their identity, and the company has less risk from day one. Oh, and HR isn’t stuck babysitting sensitive documents – governance and privacy risk go down. Stronger Helpdesk and Support Authentication: Helpdesk fraud is a common way attackers exploit weak verification. Instead of asking employees for their first pet’s name or a short code (which an attacker might phish), support can use Verified ID to confirm the person’s identity. For example, if someone calls IT saying “I’m locked out of my account,” the support portal can send a push notification asking the user to present their Verified Employee credential or do a quick re-verify via the app. If the person on the phone is an impostor, they’ll fail this check. If it’s the real employee, it’s an easy tap on their phone to prove it’s them. This approach secures processes like password resets, unlocking accounts, or granting temporary access. Think of it as caller-ID on steroids. Instead of taking someone’s word that “I am Alice from Finance,” the system actually asks for proof. And because the proof is cryptographically verified, it’s much harder to trick than a human support agent with a sob story. This reduces the burden on support too – less time playing detective with personal questions, more confidence in automating certain requests. Account Recovery and On-Demand Re-Verification: We’ve all dealt with the hassle of account recovery when we lose a password or device. Often it’s a weak link: backup codes, personal Q&A, the support team asking some manager who can’t even tell if it’s really you, or asking for a copy of your ID… With Verified ID, organizations can offer a secure self-service recovery that doesn’t rely on shared secrets. For instance, if you lose access to your multi-factor auth and need to regain entry, you could be prompted to verify your identity with a government ID check through the Verified ID system. Once you pass, you might be allowed to reset your authentication methods. Microsoft is already moving in this direction – there’s talk of replacing security questions with Verified ID checks for Entra ID account recovery (6). The benefit here is you get high assurance that the person recovering the account is the legitimate owner. This is especially important for administrators or other highly privileged users. And it’s still faster for the user than, say, waiting days for IT to manual vet and approve a request. Additionally, companies could have policies where every X months, employees might get a prompt to reaffirm their identity if they’re engaging in sensitive work. It keeps everyone honest and catches any anomalies (like, imagine an attacker somehow compromised an account – when faced with an unexpected ID check, they wouldn’t be able to comply, raising a red flag). Step-Up Authentication for Sensitive Actions: Not every action an employee takes needs this level of verification, but some absolutely do. For example, a finance officer making a $10 million wire transfer, or an engineer pushing code to a production environment, or an HR admin downloading an entire employee database – these could all trigger a step-up authentication that includes verifying the user’s identity credential. In practice, the user might get a pop-up saying “Please present your Verified ID to continue.” It might even ask for a quick fresh selfie depending on the sensitivity, which can be matched against the one on file (using Face Match in a privacy-conscious way). This is like saying: “We know you logged in with your password and MFA earlier, but this action is so critical that we want to double-check you are still the one executing it – not someone who stole your session or is using your computer.” It’s analogous to how some banks send a one-time code for high-value transactions, but instead of just a code (which could be stolen), it’s verifying you. This dramatically reduces the risk of insider threats and account takeovers causing catastrophic damage. And for the user, it’s usually a simple extra step that they’ll understand the importance of, especially in high-stakes fields. It builds trust – both that the company trusts them enough to give access, but also verifies them to ensure no one is impersonating them. In all these cases, Verified ID is adding security without a huge usability cost. In fact, many users might prefer it to the status quo: I’d rather verify my identity once properly than have to answer a bunch of security questions or have an IT person eyeballing my ID over a grainy video call. It also introduces transparency and control. As an employee, if I’m using a Verified ID, I know exactly what credential I’m sharing and why, and I have a log of it. It’s not an opaque process where I send documents into a void. From a governance perspective, using Verified ID means less widespread personal data to protect, and a clearer audit trail of “this action was taken by Alice, whose identity was verified by method X at time Y.” It can even help with regulatory compliance – for instance, proving that you really know who has access to sensitive financial data (important for things like SOX compliance or other audits). And circling back to the theme of fake employees, if such a system is in place, it’s a massive deterrent. The barrier to entry for fraudsters becomes much higher. It’s not impossible (nothing is, and you still need to Assume breach), but now they’d have to fool a top-tier document verification and biometric check – not just an overworked recruiter. That likely requires physical presence and high-quality fake documents, which are riskier and more costly for attackers. The more companies adopt such measures, the less “return on investment” these hiring scams will have for cybercriminals. The Bigger Picture: Verified Identity as the New Security Frontier The convergence of trends here is interesting. On one hand, we have digital transformation and remote work which opened the door to these novel attacks. On the other hand, we have new security philosophies like Zero Trust that emphasize continuous verification of identity and context. Verified ID is essentially Zero Trust for the hiring and identity side of things: “never trust an identity claim, always verify it.” What’s exciting is that this can now be done without turning the enterprise into a surveillance state or creating unbearable friction for legitimate users. It leverages cryptography and user-centric design to raise security and preserve privacy. Microsoft’s involvement in decentralized identity and the integration of partners like IDEMIA signals that this approach is maturing. It’s moving from pilot projects to being built into mainstream products (Entra ID, Microsoft 365, LinkedIn even offers verification badges via Entra Verified ID now (5)). It’s worth noting LinkedIn’s angle here: job seekers can verify where they work or their government ID on their LinkedIn profile, which could also help employers spot fakes (though it’s voluntary and early-stage). For CISOs and identity architects, Verified ID offers a concrete tool to address what was previously a very squishy problem. Instead of just crossing your fingers that employees are who they say they are, you can enforce it. It’s analogous to the evolution of payments security: we moved from signatures (which were rarely checked) to PIN codes and chips, and now to contactless cryptographic payments. Hiring and access management can undergo a similar upgrade from assumption-based to verification-based. Of course, adopting Verified ID or any new identity tech requires planning. Organizations will need to update their onboarding processes, train HR and IT staff on the new procedure, and ensure employees are comfortable with it. Privacy considerations must be addressed (e.g., clarify that biometric data used for verification isn’t stored indefinitely, etc.). But compared to the alternative – doing nothing and hoping to avoid being the next company in a scathing news headline about North Korean fake workers – the effort is worthwhile. In summary, human identity has become the new primary perimeter for cybersecurity. We can build all the firewalls and endpoint protections we want, but if a malicious actor can legitimately log in through the front door as an employee, those defenses may not matter. Verified identity solutions like Microsoft Entra Verified ID (with partners like IDEMIA) provide a way to fortify that perimeter with strong, real-time checks. They bring trust back into remote interactions by shifting from “trust by default” to “trust because verified.” This is not just a theoretical future; it’s happening now. As of late 2025, these tools are generally available and being rolled out in enterprises. Early adopters will likely be those in highly targeted sectors or with regulatory pressures – think defense contractors, financial institutions, and tech companies burned by experience. But I suspect it will trickle into standard best practices over the next few years, much like multi-factor authentication did. The fight against fake employees and deepfake hiring scams will continue, and attackers will evolve new tricks (perhaps trying to fake the verifications themselves). But having this layer in place tilts the balance back in favor of the defenders. It forces attackers to take more risks and expend more resources, which in turn dissuades many from even trying. To end on a practical note: If you’re a security decision-maker, now is a good time to evaluate your organization’s hiring and identity verification practices. Conduct a risk assessment – do you have any way to truly verify a new remote hire’s identity? How confident are you that all your current employees are real? If those questions make you uncomfortable, it’s worth looking into solutions like Verified ID. We’re entering an era where digital identity proofing will be as standard as background checks in HR processes. The technology has caught up to the threat, and embracing it could save your company from a very costly “lesson learned.” Remember: trust is good, but verified trust is better. By making identity verification a seamless part of the employee lifecycle, we can help ensure that the only people on the payroll are the ones we intended to hire. In a world of sophisticated fakes, that confidence is priceless. Sources: (1.1) The Register – Amazon blocked 1,800 suspected North Korean scammers seeking jobs (Dec 18, 2025) – S. Schmidt comments on DPRK fake workers and advises multi-stage identity verification. https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/18/amazon_blocked_fake_dprk_workers ("We believe, at this point, every Fortune 100 and potentially Fortune 500 has a pretty high number of risky employees on their books" Socure Chief Growth Officer Rivka Little) & https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stephenschmidt1_over-the-past-few-years-north-korean-dprk-activity-7407485036142276610-dot7 (“Implement identity verification at multiple hiring stages and monitor for anomalous technical behavior”, Amazon’s CSO, S. Schmidt) | (1.2) Heal Security – Amazon Catches North Korean IT Worker by Tracking Tiny 110ms Keystroke Delays (Dec 19, 2025). https://healsecurity.com/amazon-catches-north-korean-it-worker-by-tracking-tiny-110ms-keystroke-delays/ (2.1) U.S. Department of Justice – “Charges and Seizures Brought in Fraud Scheme Aimed at Denying Revenue for Workers Associated with North Korea” (May 16, 2024). https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/charges-and-seizures-brought-fraud-scheme-aimed-denying-revenue-workers-associated-north | (2.2) PCMag – “Remote Scammers Infiltrate 300+ Companies” (Aug 4, 2025). https://www.pcmag.com/news/is-your-coworker-a-north-korean-remote-scammers-infiltrate-300-plus-companies | (2.3) POLITICO – Tech companies have a big remote worker problem: North Korean operatives (May 12 2025). https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/12/north-korea-remote-workers-us-tech-companies-00340208 ("I’ve talked to a lot of CISOs at Fortune 500 companies, and nearly every one that I’ve spoken to about the North Korean IT worker problem has admitted they’ve hired at least one North Korean IT worker, if not a dozen or a few dozen,” Charles Carmakal, Chief Technology Officer at Google Cloud’s Mandiant) & North Koreans posing as remote IT workers infiltrated 136 U.S. companies (Nov 14, 2025). https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/14/north-korean-remote-work-it-scam-00652866 HR Dive – By 2028, 1 in 4 candidate profiles will be fake, Gartner predicts (Aug 8, 2025) – Gartner research highlighting rising candidate fraud and 25% fake profile forecast. https://www.hrdive.com/news/fake-job-candidates-ai/757126/ World Economic Forum – Unmasking the AI-powered, remote IT worker scams threatening businesses (Dec 15, 2025) – Overview of deepfake hiring threats; recommends government ID checks at multiple hiring stages. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/12/unmasking-ai-powered-remote-it-worker-scams-threatening-businesses-worldwide/ The Verge – LinkedIn gets a free verified badge that lets you prove where you work (Apr 2023) – Describes LinkedIn’s integration with Microsoft Entra for profile verification. https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/12/23679998/linkedin-verification-badge-system-clear-microsoft-entra Microsoft Tech Community – Building defense in depth: Simplifying identity security with new partner integrations (Nov 24, 2025 by P. Nrisimha) – Microsoft Entra blog announcing Verified ID GA, includes IDEMIA integration and quotes (Amit Sharma, Ankur Patel). https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-entra-blog/building-defense-in-depth-simplifying-identity-security-with-new/ba-p/4468733 & https://www.linkedin.com/posts/idemia-public-security_synced-passkeys-and-high-assurance-account-activity-7407061181879709696-SMi7 & https://www.linkedin.com/posts/4ankurpatel_synced-passkeys-and-high-assurance-account-activity-7406757097578799105-uFZz ("high assurance verification without custom business contracts or technical implementations", Ankur Patel) Microsoft Entra Blog – Building trust into digital experiences with decentralized identities (June 10, 2020 by A. Simons & A. Patel) – Background on Microsoft’s approach to decentralized identity (DID, Verifiable Credentials). https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-entra-blog/building-trust-into-digital-experiences-with-decentralized/ba-p/1257362 & Decentralized digital identities and blockchain: The future as we see it. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2018/02/12/decentralized-digital-identities-and-blockchain-the-future-as-we-see-it/ & Partnering for a path to digital identity (Janv 22, 2018) https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2018/01/22/partnering-for-a-path-to-digital-identity/ About the Author I'm Samuel Gaston-Raoul, Partner Solution Architect at Microsoft, working across the EMEA region with the diverse ecosystem of Microsoft partners—including System Integrators (SIs) and strategic advisory firms, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) / Software Development Companies (SDCs), and Startups. I engage with our partners to build, scale, and innovate securely on Microsoft Cloud and Microsoft Security platforms. With a strong focus on cloud and cybersecurity, I help shape strategic offerings and guide the development of security practices—ensuring alignment with market needs, emerging challenges, and Microsoft’s product roadmap. I also engage closely with our product and engineering teams to foster early technical dialogue and drive innovation through collaborative design. Whether through architecture workshops, technical enablement, or public speaking engagements, I aim to evangelize Microsoft’s security vision while co-creating solutions that meet the evolving demands of the AI and cybersecurity era.Security Guidance Series: CAF 4.0 Threat Hunting From Detection to Anticipation
The CAF 4.0 update reframes C2 (Threat Hunting) as a cornerstone of proactive cyber resilience. According to the NCSC CAF 4.0, this principle is no longer about occasional investigations or manual log reviews; it now demands structured, frequent, and intelligence-led threat hunting that evolves in line with organizational risk. The expectation is that UK public sector organizations will not just respond to alerts but will actively search for hidden or emerging threats that evade standard detection technologies, documenting their findings and using them to strengthen controls and response. In practice, this represents a shift from detection to anticipation. Threat hunting under CAF 4.0 should be hypothesis-driven, focusing on attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) rather than isolated indicators of compromise (IoCs). Organizations must build confidence that their hunting processes are repeatable, measurable, and continuously improving, leveraging automation and threat intelligence to expand coverage and consistency. Microsoft E3 Microsoft E3 equips organizations with the baseline capabilities to begin threat investigation, forming the starting point for Partially Achieved maturity under CAF 4.0 C2. At this level, hunting is ad hoc and event-driven, but it establishes the foundation for structured processes. How E3 contributes to the following objectives in C2: Reactive detection for initial hunts: Defender for Endpoint Plan 1 surfaces alerts on phishing, malware, and suspicious endpoint activity. Analysts can use these alerts to triage incidents and document steps taken, creating the first iteration of a hunting methodology. Identity correlation and manual investigation: Entra ID P1 provides Conditional Access and MFA enforcement, while audit telemetry in the Security & Compliance Centre supports manual reviews of identity anomalies. These capabilities allow organizations to link endpoint and identity signals during investigations. Learning from incidents: By recording findings from reactive hunts and feeding lessons into risk decisions, organizations begin to build repeatable processes, even if hunts are not yet hypothesis-driven or frequent enough to match risk. What’s missing for Achieved: Under E3, hunts remain reactive, lack documented hypotheses, and do not routinely convert findings into automated detections. Achieving full maturity typically requires regular, TTP-focused hunts, automation, and integration with advanced analytics, capabilities found in higher-tier solutions. Microsoft E5 Microsoft E5 elevates threat hunting from reactive investigation to a structured, intelligence-driven discipline, a defining feature of Achieved maturity under CAF 4.0, C2. Distinctive E5 capabilities for C2: Hypothesis-driven hunts at scale: Defender Advanced Hunting (KQL) enables analysts to test hypotheses across correlated telemetry from endpoints, identities, email, and SaaS applications. This supports hunts focused on adversary TTPs, not just atomic IoCs, as CAF requires. Turning hunts into detections: Custom hunting queries can be converted into alert rules, operationalizing findings into automated detection and reducing reliance on manual triage. Threat intelligence integration: Microsoft Threat Intelligence feeds real-time actor tradecraft and sector-specific campaigns into the hunting workflow, ensuring hunts anticipate emerging threats rather than react to incidents. Identity and lateral movement focus: Defender for Identity surfaces Kerberos abuse, credential replay, and lateral movement patterns, enabling hunts that span beyond endpoints and email. Documented and repeatable process: E5 supports recording hunt queries and outcomes via APIs and portals, creating evidence for audits and driving continuous improvement, a CAF expectation. By embedding hypothesis-driven hunts, automation, and intelligence into business-as-usual operations, E5 helps public sector organizations meet CAF C2’s requirement for regular, documented hunts that proactively reduce risk, and evolve with the threat landscape. Sentinel Microsoft Sentinel takes threat hunting beyond the Microsoft ecosystem, unifying telemetry from endpoints, firewalls, OT systems, and third-party SaaS into a single cloud-native SIEM and SOAR platform. This consolidation helps enable hunts that span the entire attack surface, a critical step toward achieving maturity under CAF 4.0 C2. Key capabilities for control C2: Attacker-centric analysis: MITRE ATT&CK-aligned analytics and KQL-based hunting allow teams to identify stealthy behaviours, simulate breach paths, and validate detection coverage. Threat intelligence integration: Sentinel enriches hunts with national and sector-specific intelligence (e.g. NCSC advisories), ensuring hunts target the most relevant TTPs. Automation and repeatability: SOAR playbooks convert post-hunt findings into automated workflows for containment, investigation, and documentation, meeting CAF’s requirement for structured, continuously improving hunts. Evidence-driven improvement: Recorded hunts and automated reporting create a feedback loop that strengthens posture and demonstrates compliance. By combining telemetry, intelligence, and automation, Sentinel helps organizations embed threat hunting as a routine, scalable process, turning insights into detections and ensuring hunts evolve with the threat landscape. The video below shows how E3, E5 and Sentinel power real C2 threat hunts. Bringing it all Together By progressing from E3’s reactive investigation to E5’s intelligence-led correlation and Sentinel’s automated hunting and orchestration, organizations can develop an end-to-end capability that not only detects but anticipates and helps prevent disruption to essential public services across the UK. This is the operational reality of Achieved under CAF 4.0 C2 (Threat Hunting) - a structured, data-driven, and intelligence-informed approach that transforms threat hunting from an isolated task into an ongoing discipline of proactive defence. To demonstrate what effective, CAF-aligned threat hunting looks like, the following one-slider and demo walk through how Microsoft’s security tools support structured, repeatable hunts that match organizational risk. These examples help translate C2’s expectations into practical, operational activity. CAF 4.0 challenges public-sector defenders to move beyond detection and embrace anticipation. How mature is your organization’s ability to uncover the threats that have not yet been seen? In this final post of the series, the message is clear - true cyber resilience moves beyond reactivity towards a predictive approach.Security Guidance Series: CAF 4.0 Understanding Threat From Awareness to Intelligence-Led Defence
The updated CAF 4.0 raises expectations around control A2.b - Understanding Threat. Rather than focusing solely on awareness of common cyber-attacks, the framework now calls for a sector-specific, intelligence-informed understanding of the threat landscape. According to the NCSC, CAF 4.0 emphasizes the need for detailed threat analysis that reflects the tactics, techniques, and resources of capable adversaries, and requires that this understanding directly shapes security and resilience decisions. For public sector authorities, this means going beyond static risk registers to build a living threat model that evolves alongside digital transformation and service delivery. Public sector authorities need to know which systems and datasets are most exposed, from citizen records and clinical information to education systems, operational platforms, and payment gateways, and anticipate how an attacker might exploit them to disrupt essential services. To support this higher level of maturity, Microsoft’s security ecosystem helps public sector authorities turn threat intelligence into actionable understanding, directly aligning with CAF 4.0’s Achieved criteria for control A2.b. Microsoft E3 - Building Foundational Awareness Microsoft E3 provides public sector authorities with the foundational capabilities to start aligning with CAF 4.0 A2.b by enabling awareness of common threats and applying that awareness to risk decisions. At this maturity level, organizations typically reach Partially Achieved, where threat understanding is informed by incidents rather than proactive analysis. How E3 contributes to Contributing Outcome A2.b: Visibility of basic threats: Defender for Endpoint Plan 1 surfaces malware and unsafe application activity, giving organizations insight into how adversaries exploit endpoints. This telemetry helps identify initial attacker entry points and informs reactive containment measures. Identity risk reduction: Entra ID P1 enforces MFA and blocks legacy authentication, mitigating common credential-based attacks. These controls reduce the likelihood of compromise at early stages of an attacker’s path. Incident-driven learning: Alerts and Security & Compliance Centre reports allow organizations to review how attacks unfolded, supporting documentation of observed techniques and feeding lessons into risk decisions. What’s missing for Achieved: To fully meet the contributing outcomes A2.b, public sector organizations must evolve from incident-driven awareness to structured, intelligence-led threat analysis. This involves anticipating probable attack methods, developing plausible scenarios, and maintaining a current threat picture through proactive hunting and threat intelligence. These capabilities extend beyond the E3 baseline and require advanced analytics and dedicated platforms. Microsoft E5 – Advancing to Intelligence-Led Defence Where E3 establishes the foundation for identifying and documenting known threats, Microsoft E5 helps public sector organizations to progress toward the Achieved level of CAF control A2.b by delivering continuous, intelligence-driven analysis across every attack surface. How E5 aligns with Contributing Outcome A2.b: Detailed, up-to-date view of attacker paths: At the core of E5 is Defender XDR, which correlates telemetry from Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, Defender for Identity, and Defender for Cloud Apps. This unified view reveals how attackers move laterally between devices, identities, and SaaS applications - directly supporting CAF’s requirement to understand probable attack methods and the steps needed to reach critical targets. Advanced hunting and scenario development: Defender for Endpoint P2 introduces advanced hunting via Kusto Query Language (KQL) and behavioural analytics. Analysts can query historical data to uncover persistence mechanisms or privilege escalation techniques, assisting organizations to anticipate attack chains and develop plausible scenarios, a key expectation under A2.b. Email and collaboration threat modelling: Defender for Office 365 P2 detects targeted phishing, business email compromise, and credential harvesting campaigns. Attack Simulation Training adds proactive testing of social engineering techniques, helping organizations maintain awareness of evolving attacker tradecraft and refine mitigations. Identity-focused threat analysis: Defender for Identity and Entra ID P2 expose lateral movement, credential abuse, and risky sign-ins. By mapping tactics and techniques against frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK, organizations can gain the attacker’s perspective on identity systems - fulfilling CAF’s call to view networks from a threat actor’s lens. Cloud application risk visibility: Defender for Cloud Apps highlights shadow IT and potential data exfiltration routes, helping organizations to document and justify controls at each step of the attack chain. Continuous threat intelligence: Microsoft Threat Intelligence enriches detections with global and sector-specific insights on active adversary groups, emerging malware, and infrastructure trends. This sustained feed helps organizations maintain a detailed understanding of current threats, informing risk decisions and prioritization. Why this meets Achieved: E5 capabilities help organizations move beyond reactive alerting to a structured, intelligence-led approach. Threat knowledge is continuously updated, scenarios are documented, and controls are justified at each stage of the attacker path, supporting CAF control A2.b’s expectation that threat understanding informs risk management and defensive prioritization. Sentinel While Microsoft E5 delivers deep visibility across endpoints, identities, and applications, Microsoft Sentinel acts as the unifying layer that helps transform these insights into a comprehensive, evidence-based threat model, a core expectation of Achieved maturity under CAF 4.0 A2.b. How Sentinel enables Achieved outcomes: Comprehensive attack-chain visibility: As a cloud-native SIEM and SOAR, Sentinel ingests telemetry from Microsoft and non-Microsoft sources, including firewalls, OT environments, legacy servers, and third-party SaaS platforms. By correlating these diverse signals into a single analytical view, Sentinel allows defenders to visualize the entire attack chain, from initial reconnaissance through lateral movement and data exfiltration. This directly supports CAF’s requirement to understand how capable, well-resourced actors could systematically target essential systems. Attacker-centric analysis and scenario building: Sentinel’s Analytics Rules and MITRE ATT&CK-aligned detections provide a structured lens on tactics and techniques. Security teams can use Kusto Query Language (KQL) and advanced hunting to identify anomalies, map adversary behaviours, and build plausible threat scenarios, addressing CAF’s expectation to anticipate probable attack methods and justify mitigations at each step. Threat intelligence integration: Sentinel enriches local telemetry with intelligence from trusted sources such as the NCSC and Microsoft’s global network. This helps organizations maintain a current, sector-specific understanding of threats, applying that knowledge to prioritize risk treatment and policy decisions, a defining characteristic of Achieved maturity. Automation and repeatable processes: Sentinel’s SOAR capabilities operationalize intelligence through automated playbooks that contain threats, isolate compromised assets, and trigger investigation workflows. These workflows create a documented, repeatable process for threat analysis and response, reinforcing CAF’s emphasis on continuous learning and refinement. This video brings CAF A2.b – Understanding Threat – to life, showing how public sector organizations can use Microsoft security tools to build a clear, intelligence-led view of attacker behaviour and meet the expectations of CAF 4.0. Why this meets Achieved: By consolidating telemetry, threat intelligence, and automated response into one platform, Sentinel elevates public sector organizations from isolated detection to an integrated, intelligence-led defence posture. Every alert, query, and playbook contributes to an evolving organization-wide threat model, supporting CAF A2.b’s requirement for detailed, proactive, and documented threat understanding. CAF 4.0 challenges every public-sector organization to think like a threat actor, to understand not just what could go wrong, but how and why. Does your organization have the visibility, intelligence, and confidence to turn that understanding into proactive defence? To illustrate how this contributing outcome can be achieved in practice, the one-slider and demo show how Microsoft’s security capabilities help organizations build the detailed, intelligence-informed threat picture expected by CAF 4.0. These examples turn A2.b’s requirements into actionable steps for organizations. In the next article, we’ll explore C2 - Threat Hunting: moving from detection to anticipation and embedding proactive resilience as a daily capability.Security Guidance Series: CAF 4.0 Building Proactive Cyber Resilience
It’s Time To Act Microsoft's Digital Defense Report 2025 clearly describes the cyber threat landscape that this guidance is situated in, one that has become more complex, more industrialized, and increasingly democratized. Each day, Microsoft processes more than 100 trillion security signals, giving unparalleled visibility into adversarial tradecraft. Identity remains the most heavily targeted attack vector, with 97% of identity-based attacks relying on password spray, while phishing and unpatched assets continue to provide easy routes for initial compromise. Financially motivated attacks, particularly ransomware and extortion, now make up over half of global incidents, and nation-state operators continue to target critical sectors, including IT, telecommunications, and Government networks. AI is accelerating both sides of the equation: enhancing attacker capability, lowering barriers to entry through open-source models, and simultaneously powering more automated, intelligence-driven defence. Alongside this, emerging risks such as quantum computing underline the urgency of preparing today for tomorrow’s threats. Cybersecurity has therefore become a strategic imperative shaping national resilience and demanding genuine cross-sector collaboration to mitigate systemic risk. It is within this environment that UK public sector organizations are rethinking their approach to cyber resilience. As an Account Executive Apprentice in the Local Public Services team here at Microsoft, I have seen how UK public sector organizations are rethinking their approach to cyber resilience, moving beyond checklists and compliance toward a culture of continuous improvement and intelligence-led defence. When we talk about the UK public sector in this series, we are referring specifically to central government departments, local government authorities, health and care organizations (including the NHS), education institutions, and public safety services such as police, fire, and ambulance. These organizations form a deeply interconnected ecosystem delivering essential services to millions of citizens every day, making cyber resilience not just a technical requirement but a foundation of public trust. Against this backdrop, the UK public sector is entering a new era of cyber resilience with the release of CAF 4.0, the latest evolution of the National Cyber Security Centre’s Cyber Assessment Framework. This guidance has been developed in consultation with national cyber security experts, including the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and is an aggregation of knowledge and internationally recognized expertise. Building on the foundations of CAF 3.2, this update marks a decisive shift, like moving from a static map to a live radar. Instead of looking back at where threats once were, organizations can now better anticipate them and adjust their digital defences in real time. For the UK’s public sector, this transformation could not be timelier. The complexity of digital public services, combined with the growing threat of ransomware, insider threat, supply chain compromise, and threats from nation state actors, demands a faster, smarter, and more connected approach to resilience. Where CAF 3.2 focused on confirming the presence and effectiveness of security measures, CAF 4.0 places greater emphasis on developing organizational capability and improving resilience in a more dynamic threat environment. While the CAF remains an outcome-based framework, not a maturity model, it is structured around Objectives, Principles, and Contributing Outcomes, with each contributing outcome supported by Indicators of Good Practice. For simplicity, I refer to these contributing outcomes as “controls” throughout this blog and use that term to describe the practical expectations organizations are assessed against. CAF 4.0 challenges organizations not only to understand the threats they face but to anticipate, detect, and respond in a more informed and adaptive way. Two contributing outcomes exemplify this proactive mindset: A2.b Understanding Threat and C2 Threat Hunting. Together, they represent what it truly means to understand your adversaries and act before harm occurs. For the UK’s public sector, achieving these new objectives may seem daunting, but the path forward is clearer than ever. Many organizations are already beginning this journey, supported by technologies that help turn insight into action and coordination into resilience. At Microsoft, we’ve seen how tools like E3, E5, and Sentinel are already helping public sector teams to move from reactive to intelligence-driven security operations. Over the coming weeks, we’ll explore how these capabilities align to CAF 4.0’s core principles and share practical examples of how councils can strengthen their resilience journey through smarter visibility, automation, and collaboration. CAF 4.0 vs CAF 3.2 - What’s Changed and Why It Matters The move from CAF 3.2 to CAF 4.0 represents a fundamental shift in how the UK public sector builds cyber resilience. The focus is no longer on whether controls exist - it is on whether they work, adapt, and improve over time. CAF 4.0 puts maturity at the centre. It pushes organizations to evolve from compliance checklists to operational capability, adopting a threat-informed, intelligence-led, and proactive security posture, by design. CAF 4.0 raises the bar for cyber maturity across the public sector. It calls for departments and authorities to build on existing foundations and embrace live threat intelligence, behavioural analytics, and structured threat hunting to stay ahead of adversaries. By understanding how attackers might target essential services and adapting controls in real time, organizations can evolve from awareness to active defence. Today’s threat actors are agile, persistent, and increasingly well-resourced, which means reactive measures are no longer enough. CAF 4.0 positions resilience as a continuous process of learning, adapting, and improving, supported by data-driven insights and modern security operations. CAF 4.0 is reshaping how the UK’s public sector approaches security maturity. In the coming weeks, we’ll explore what this looks like in practice, starting with how to build a deeper understanding of threat (control A2.b) and elevate threat hunting (control C2) into an everyday capability, using the tools and insights that are available within existing Microsoft E3 and E5 licences to help support these objectives. Until then, how ready is your organization to turn insight into action?GenAI vs Cyber Threats: Why GenAI Powered Unified SecOps Wins
Cybersecurity is evolving faster than ever. Attackers are leveraging automation and AI to scale their operations, so how can defenders keep up? The answer lies in Microsoft Unified Security Operations powered by Generative AI (GenAI). This opens the Cybersecurity Paradox: Attackers only need one successful attempt, but defenders must always be vigilant, otherwise the impact can be huge. Traditional Security Operation Centers (SOCs) are hampered by siloed tools and fragmented data, which slows response and creates vulnerabilities. On average, attackers gain unauthorized access to organizational data in 72 minutes, while traditional defense tools often take on average 258 days to identify and remediate. This is over eight months to detect and resolve breaches, a significant and unsustainable gap. Notably, Microsoft Unified Security Operations, including GenAI-powered capabilities, is also available and supported in Microsoft Government Community Cloud (GCC) and GCC High/DoD environments, ensuring that organizations with the highest compliance and security requirements can benefit from these advanced protections. The Case for Unified Security Operations Unified security operations in Microsoft Defender XDR consolidates SIEM, XDR, Exposure management, and Enterprise Security Posture into a single, integrated experience. This approach allows the following: Breaks down silos by centralizing telemetry across identities, endpoints, SaaS apps, and multi-cloud environments. Infuses AI natively into workflows, enabling faster detection, investigation, and response. Microsoft Sentinel exemplifies this shift with its Data Lake architecture (see my previous post on Microsoft Sentinel’s New Data Lake: Cut Costs & Boost Threat Detection), offering schema-on-read flexibility for petabyte-scale analytics without costly data rehydration. This means defenders can query massive datasets in real time, accelerating threat hunting and forensic analysis. GenAI: A Force Multiplier for Cyber Defense Generative AI transforms security operations from reactive to proactive. Here’s how: Threat Hunting & Incident Response GenAI enables predictive analytics and anomaly detection across hybrid identities, endpoints, and workloads. It doesn’t just find threats—it anticipates them. Behavioral Analytics with UEBA Advanced User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) powered by AI correlates signals from multi-cloud environments and identity providers like Okta, delivering actionable insights for insider risk and compromised accounts. [13 -Micros...s new UEBA | Word] Automation at Scale AI-driven playbooks streamline repetitive tasks, reducing manual workload and accelerating remediation. This frees analysts to focus on strategic threat hunting. Microsoft Innovations Driving This Shift For SOC teams and cybersecurity practitioners, these innovations mean you spend less time on manual investigations and more time leveraging actionable insights, ultimately boosting productivity and allowing you to focus on higher-value security work that matters most to your organization. Plus, by making threat detection and response faster and more accurate, you can reduce stress, minimize risk, and demonstrate greater value to your stakeholders. Sentinel Data Lake: Unlocks real-time analytics at scale, enabling AI-driven threat detection without rehydration costs. Microsoft Sentinel data lake overview UEBA Enhancements: Multi-cloud and identity integrations for unified risk visibility. Sentinel UEBA’s Superpower: Actionable Insights You Can Use! Now with Okta and Multi-Cloud Logs! Security Copilot & Agentic AI: Harnesses AI and global threat intelligence to automate detection, response, and compliance across the security stack, enabling teams to scale operations and strengthen Zero Trust defenses defenders. Security Copilot Agents: The New Era of AI, Driven Cyber Defense Sector-Specific Impact All sectors are different, but I would like to focus a bit on the public sector at this time. This sector and critical infrastructure organizations face unique challenges: talent shortages, operational complexity, and nation-state threats. GenAI-centric platforms help these sectors shift from reactive defense to predictive resilience, ensuring mission-critical systems remain secure. By leveraging advanced AI-driven analytics and automation, public sector organizations can streamline incident detection, accelerate response times, and proactively uncover hidden risks before they escalate. With unified platforms that bridge data silos and integrate identity, endpoint, and cloud telemetry, these entities gain a holistic security posture that supports compliance and operational continuity. Ultimately, embracing generative AI not only helps defend against sophisticated cyber adversaries but also empowers public sector teams to confidently protect the services and infrastructure their communities rely on every day. Call to Action Artificial intelligence is driving unified cybersecurity. Solutions like Microsoft Defender XDR and Sentinel now integrate into a single dashboard, consolidating alerts, incidents, and data from multiple sources. AI swiftly correlates information, prioritizes threats, and automates investigations, helping security teams respond quickly with less manual work. This shift enables organizations to proactively manage cyber risks and strengthen their resilience against evolving challenges. Picture a single pane of glass where all your XDRs and Defenders converge, AI instantly shifts through the noise, highlighting what matters most so teams can act with clarity and speed. That may include: Assess your SOC maturity and identify silos. Use the Security Operations Self-Assessment Tool to determine your SOC’s maturity level and provide actionable recommendations for improving processes and tooling. Also see Security Maturity Model from the Well-Architected Framework Explore Microsoft Sentinel, Defender XDR, and Security Copilot for AI-powered security. Explains progressive security maturity levels and strategies for strengthening your security posture. What is Microsoft Defender XDR? - Microsoft Defender XDR and What is Microsoft Security Copilot? Design Security in Solutions from Day One! Drive embedding security from the start of solution design through secure-by-default configurations and proactive operations, aligning with Zero Trust and MCRA principles to build resilient, compliant, and scalable systems. Design Security in Solutions from Day One! Innovate boldly, Deploy Safely, and Never Regret it! Upskill your teams on GenAI tools and responsible AI practices. Guidance for securing AI apps and data, aligned with Zero Trust principles Build a strong security posture for AI About the Author: Hello Jacques "Jack” here! I am a Microsoft Technical Trainer focused on helping organizations use advanced security and AI solutions. I create and deliver training programs that combine technical expertise with practical use, enabling teams to adopt innovations like Microsoft Sentinel, Defender XDR, and Security Copilot for stronger cyber resilience. #SkilledByMTT #MicrosoftLearnPlanning your move to Microsoft Defender portal for all Microsoft Sentinel customers
In November 2023, Microsoft announced our strategy to unify security operations by bringing the best of XDR and SIEM together. Our first step was bringing Microsoft Sentinel into the Microsoft Defender portal, giving teams a single, comprehensive view of incidents, reducing queue management, enriching threat intel, streamlining response and enabling SOC teams to take advantage of Gen AI in their day-to-day workflow. Since then, considerable progress has been made with thousands of customers using this new unified experience; to enhance the value customers gain when using Sentinel in the Defender portal, multi-tenancy and multi-workspace support was added to help customers with more sophisticated deployments. Our mission is to unify security operations by bringing all your data, workflows, and people together to unlock new capabilities and drive better security outcomes. As a strong example of this, last year we added extended posture management, delivering powerful posture insights to the SOC team. This integration helps build a closed-loop feedback system between your pre- and post-breach efforts. Exposure Management is just one example. By bringing everything together, we can take full advantage of AI and automation to shift from a reactive to predictive SOC that anticipates threats and proactively takes action to defend against them. Beyond Exposure Management, Microsoft has been constantly innovating in the Defender experience, adding not just SIEM but also Security Copilot. The Sentinel experience within the Defender portal is the focus of our innovation energy and where we will continue to add advanced Sentinel capabilities going forward. Onboarding to the new unified experience is easy and doesn’t require a typical migration. Just a few clicks and permissions. Customers can continue to use Sentinel in the Azure portal while it is available even after choosing to transition. Today, we’re announcing that we are moving to the next phase of the transition with a target to retire the Azure portal for Microsoft Sentinel by July 1, 2026. Customers not yet using the Defender portal should plan their transition accordingly. “Really amazing to see that coming, because cross querying with tables in one UI is really cool! Amazing, big step forward to the unified [Defender] portal.” Glueckkanja AG “The biggest benefit of a unified security operations solution (Microsoft Sentinel + Microsoft Defender XDR) has been the ability to combine data in Defender XDR with logs from third party security tools. Another advantage developed has been to eliminate the need to switch between Defender XDR and Microsoft Sentinel portals, now having a single pane of glass, which the team has been wanting for some years.” Robel Kidane, Group Information Security Manager, Renishaw PLC Delivering the SOC of the future Unifying threat protection, exposure management and security analytics capabilities in one pane of glass not only streamlines the user experience, but also enables Sentinel customers to realize security outcomes more efficiently: Analyst efficiency: A single portal reduces context switching, simplifies workflows, reduces training overhead, and improves team agility. Integrated insights: SOC-focused case management, threat intelligence, incident correlation, advanced hunting, exposure management, and a prioritized incident queue enriched with business and sensitivity context—enabling faster, more informed detection and response across all products. SOC optimization: Security controls that can be adjusted as threats and business priorities change to control costs and provide better coverage and utilization of data, thus maximizing ROI from the SIEM. Accelerated response: AI-driven detection and response which reduces mean time to respond (MTTR) by 30%, increases security response efficiency by 60%, and enables embedded Gen AI and agentic workflows. What’s next: Preparing for the retirement of the Sentinel Experience in the Azure Portal Microsoft is committed to supporting every single customer in making that transition over the next 12 months. Beginning July 1, 2026, Sentinel users will be automatically redirected to the Defender portal. After helping thousands of customers smoothly make the transition, we recommend that security teams begin planning their migration and change management now to ensure continuity and avoid disruption. While the technical process is very straightforward, we have found that early preparation allows time for workflow validation, training, and process alignment to take full advantage of the new capabilities and experience. Tips for a Successful Migration to Microsoft Defender 1. Leverage Microsoft’s help: Leverage Microsoft documentation, instructional videos, guidance, and in-product support to help you be successful. A good starting point is the documentation on Microsoft Learn. 2. Plan early: Engage stakeholders early including SOC and IT Security leads, MSSPs, and compliance teams to align on timing, training and organizational needs. Make sure you have an actionable timeline and agreement in the organization around when you can prioritize this transition to ensure access to the full potential of the new experience. 3. Prepare your environment: Plan and design your environment thoroughly. This includes understanding the prerequisites for onboarding Microsoft Sentinel workspaces, reviewing and deciding on access controls, and planning the architecture of your tenant and workspace. Proper planning will ensure a smooth transition and help avoid any disruptions to your security operations. 4. Leverage Advanced Threat Detection: The Defender portal offers enhanced threat detection capabilities with advanced AI and machine learning for Microsoft Sentinel. Make sure to leverage these features for faster and more accurate threat detection and response. This will help you identify and address critical threats promptly, improving your overall security posture. 5. Utilize Unified Hunting and Incident Management: Take advantage of the enhanced hunting, incident, and investigation capabilities in Microsoft Defender. This provides a comprehensive view for more efficient threat detection and response. By consolidating all security incidents, alerts, and investigations into a single unified interface, you can streamline your operations and improve efficiency. 6. Optimize Cost and Data Management The Defender portal offers cost and data optimization features, such as SOC Optimization and Summary Rules. Make sure to utilize these features to optimize your data management, reduce costs, and increase coverage and SIEM ROI. This will help you manage your security operations more effectively and efficiently. Unleash the full potential of your Security team The unified SecOps experience available in the Defender portal is designed to support the evolving needs of modern SOCs. The Defender portal is not just a new home for Microsoft Sentinel - it’s a foundation for integrated, AI-driven security operations. We’re committed to helping you make this transition smoothly and confidently. If you haven’t already joined the thousands of security organizations that have done so, now is the time to begin. Resources AI-Powered Security Operations Platform | Microsoft Security Microsoft Sentinel in the Microsoft Defender portal | Microsoft Learn Shifting your Microsoft Sentinel Environment to the Defender Portal | Microsoft Learn Microsoft Sentinel is now in Defender | YouTubeMicrosoft Sentinel’s New Data Lake: Cut Costs & Boost Threat Detection
Microsoft Sentinel is leveling up! Already a trusted cloud-native Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) solution, it empowers security teams to detect, investigate, and respond to threats with speed and precision. Now, with the introduction of its new Data Lake architecture, Sentinel is transforming how security data is stored, accessed, and analyzed, bringing unmatched flexibility and scale to threat investigation. Unlike Microsoft Fabric OneLake, which supports analytics across the organization, Sentinel’s Data Lake is purpose-built for security. It centralizes raw structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data in its original format, enabling advanced analytics without rigid schemas. This article is written by someone who’s spent years helping security teams navigate Microsoft’s evolving ecosystem, translating complex capabilities into practical strategies. What follows is a hands-on look at the key features, benefits, and challenges of Sentinel’s Data Lake, designed to help you make the most of this powerful new architecture. Current Sentinel Features To tackle the challenges security teams, face today—like explosive data growth, integration of varied sources, and tight compliance requirements—organizations need scalable, efficient architectures. Legacy SIEMs often become costly and slow when analyzing multi-year data or correlating diverse events. Security data lakes address these issues by enabling seamless ingestion of logs from any source, schema-on-read flexibility, and parallelized queries over massive datasets. This schema-on-read allows SOC analysts to define how data is interpreted at the time of analysis, rather than when it is stored. This means analysts can flexibly adapt queries and threat detection logic to evolving threats, without reformatting historical data making investigations more agile and responsive to change. This empowers security operations to conduct deep historical analysis, automate enrichment, and apply advanced analytics, such as machine learning, while retaining strict control over data access and residency. Ultimately, decoupling storage and compute allows teams to boost detection and response speed, maintain compliance, and adapt their Security Operation Center (SOC) to future security demands. As organizations manage increasing data and limited budgets, many are moving from legacy SIEMs to advanced cloud-native options. Microsoft Sentinel’s Data Lake separates storage from computing, offering scalable and cost-effective analytics and compliance. For instance, storing 500 TB of logs in Sentinel Data Lake can cut costs by 60–80% compared to Log Analytics, due to lower storage costs and flexible retention. Integration with modern tools and open formats enables efficient threat response and regulatory compliance. Microsoft Sentinel data lake pricing (preview) Sentinel Data Lake Use Cases Log Retention: Long-term retention of security logs for compliance and forensic investigations Hunting: Advanced threat hunting using historical data Interoperability: Integration with Microsoft Fabric and other analytics platforms Cost: Efficient storage prices for high-volume data sources How Microsoft Sentinel Data Lake Helps Microsoft Sentinel’s Data Lake introduces a powerful paradigm shift for security operations by architecting the separation of storage and compute, enabling organizations to achieve petabyte-scale data retention without the traditional overhead and cost penalties of legacy SIEM solutions. Built atop highly scalable, cloud-native infrastructure, Sentinel Data Lake empowers SOCs to ingest telemetry from virtually unlimited sources ranging from on-premises firewalls, proxies, and endpoint logs to SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS environments—while leveraging schema-on-read, a method that allows analysts to define how data is interpreted at query time rather than when it is stored, offering greater flexibility in analytics. For example, a security analyst can adapt to the way historical data is examined as new threats emerge, without needing to reformat or restructure the data stored in the Data Lake. From Microsoft Learn – Retention and data tiering Storing raw security logs in open formats like Parquet (this is a columnar storage file format optimized for efficient data compression and retrieval, commonly used in big data processing frameworks like Apache Spark and Hadoop) enables easy integration with analytics tools and Microsoft Fabric, letting analysts efficiently query historical data using KQL, SQL, or Spark. This approach eliminates the need for complex ETL and archived data rehydration, making incident response faster; for instance, a SOC analyst can quickly search for years of firewall logs for threat detection. From Microsoft Learn – Flexible querying with Kusto Query Language Granular data governance and access controls allow organizations to manage sensitive information and meet legal requirements. Storing raw security logs in open formats enables fast investigations of long-term data incidents, while automated lifecycle management reduces costs and ensures compliance. Data Lakes integrate with Microsoft platforms and other tools for unified analytics and security. Machine learning helps detect unusual login activity across years, overcoming previous storage issues. From Microsoft Learn – Powerful analytics using Jupyter notebooks Pros and Cons The following table highlights the advantages and potential opportunities that Microsoft Sentinel Data Lake offers. This follows the same Pay-As-You-Go pricing model as currently available with Sentinel. Pros Cons License Needed Scalable, cost-effective long-term retention of security data Requires adaptation to new architecture Pay-As-You-Go model Seamless integration with Microsoft Fabric and open data formats Initial setup and integration may involve a learning curve Pay-As-You-Go model Efficient processing of petabyte-scale datasets Transitioning existing workflows may require planning Pay-As-You-Go model Advanced analytics, threat hunting, and AI/ML across historical data Some features may depend on integration with other services Pay-As-You-Go model Supports compliance use cases with robust data governance and audit trails Complexity in new data governance features Pay-As-You-Go model Microsoft Sentinel Data Lake solution advances cloud-native security by overcoming traditional SIEM limitations, allowing organizations to better retain, analyze, and respond to security data. As cyber threats grow, Sentinel Data Lake offers flexible, cost-efficient storage for long-term retention, supporting detection, compliance, and audits without significant expense or complexity. Quick Guide: Deploy Microsoft Sentinel Data Lake Assess Needs: Identify your security data volume, retention, and compliance requirements - Sentinel Data Lake Overview. Prepare Environment: Ensure Azure permissions and workspace readiness - Onboarding Guide. Enable Data Lake: Use Azure CLI or Defender portal to activate - Setup Instructions. Ingest & Import Data: Connect sources and migrate historical logs - Microsoft Sentinel Data Connectors. Integrate Analytics: Use KQL, notebooks, and Microsoft Fabric for scalable analysis - Fabric Overview Train & Optimize: Educate your team and monitor performance - Best Practices. About the Author: Hi! Jacques “Jack” here, I’m a Microsoft Technical Trainer at Microsoft. I wanted to share this as it’s something I often asked during my Security Trainings. This improves the already impressive Microsoft Sentinel feature stack helping the Defender Community to secure their environment in this ever-growing hacked world. I’ve been working with Microsoft Sentinel since September 2019, and I have been teaching learners about this SIEM since March 2020. I have experience using Security Copilot and Security AI Agents, which have been effective in improving my incident response and compromise recovery times.Hacking Made Easy, Patching Made Optional: A Modern Cyber Tragedy
In today’s cyber threat landscape, the tools and techniques required to compromise enterprise environments are no longer confined to highly skilled adversaries or state-sponsored actors. While artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to enhance the sophistication of attacks, the majority of breaches still rely on simple, publicly accessible tools and well-established social engineering tactics. Another major issue is the persistent failure of enterprises to patch common vulnerabilities in a timely manner—despite the availability of fixes and public warnings. This negligence continues to be a key enabler of large-scale breaches, as demonstrated in several recent incidents. The Rise of AI-Enhanced Attacks Attackers are now leveraging AI to increase the credibility and effectiveness of their campaigns. One notable example is the use of deepfake technology—synthetic media generated using AI—to impersonate individuals in video or voice calls. North Korean threat actors, for instance, have been observed using deepfake videos and AI-generated personas to conduct fraudulent job interviews with HR departments at Western technology companies. These scams are designed to gain insider access to corporate systems or to exfiltrate sensitive intellectual property under the guise of legitimate employment. Social Engineering: Still the Most Effective Entry Point And yet, many recent breaches have begun with classic social engineering techniques. In the cases of Coinbase and Marks & Spencer, attackers impersonated employees through phishing or fraudulent communications. Once they had gathered sufficient personal information, they contacted support desks or mobile carriers, convincingly posing as the victims to request password resets or SIM swaps. This impersonation enabled attackers to bypass authentication controls and gain initial access to sensitive systems, which they then leveraged to escalate privileges and move laterally within the network. Threat groups such as Scattered Spider have demonstrated mastery of these techniques, often combining phishing with SIM swap attacks and MFA bypass to infiltrate telecom and cloud infrastructure. Similarly, Solt Thypoon (formerly DEV-0343), linked to North Korean operations, has used AI-generated personas and deepfake content to conduct fraudulent job interviews—gaining insider access under the guise of legitimate employment. These examples underscore the evolving sophistication of social engineering and the need for robust identity verification protocols. Built for Defense, Used for Breach Despite the emergence of AI-driven threats, many of the most successful attacks continue to rely on simple, freely available tools that require minimal technical expertise. These tools are widely used by security professionals for legitimate purposes such as penetration testing, red teaming, and vulnerability assessments. However, they are also routinely abused by attackers to compromise systems Case studies for tools like Nmap, Metasploit, Mimikatz, BloodHound, Cobalt Strike, etc. The dual-use nature of these tools underscores the importance of not only detecting their presence but also understanding the context in which they are being used. From CVE to Compromise While social engineering remains a common entry point, many breaches are ultimately enabled by known vulnerabilities that remain unpatched for extended periods. For example, the MOVEit Transfer vulnerability (CVE-2023-34362) was exploited by the Cl0p ransomware group to compromise hundreds of organizations, despite a patch being available. Similarly, the OpenMetadata vulnerability (CVE-2024-28255, CVE-2024-28847) allowed attackers to gain access to Kubernetes workloads and leverage them for cryptomining activity days after a fix had been issued. Advanced persistent threat groups such as APT29 (also known as Cozy Bear) have historically exploited unpatched systems to maintain long-term access and conduct stealthy operations. Their use of credential harvesting tools like Mimikatz and lateral movement frameworks such as Cobalt Strike highlights the critical importance of timely patch management—not just for ransomware defense, but also for countering nation-state actors. Recommendations To reduce the risk of enterprise breaches stemming from tool misuse, social engineering, and unpatched vulnerabilities, organizations should adopt the following practices: 1. Patch Promptly and Systematically Ensure that software updates and security patches are applied in a timely and consistent manner. This involves automating patch management processes to reduce human error and delay, while prioritizing vulnerabilities based on their exploitability and exposure. Microsoft Intune can be used to enforce update policies across devices, while Windows Autopatch simplifies the deployment of updates for Windows and Microsoft 365 applications. To identify and rank vulnerabilities, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management offers risk-based insights that help focus remediation efforts where they matter most. 2. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) To mitigate credential-based attacks, MFA should be enforced across all user accounts. Conditional access policies should be configured to adapt authentication requirements based on contextual risk factors such as user behavior, device health, and location. Microsoft Entra Conditional Access allows for dynamic policy enforcement, while Microsoft Entra ID Protection identifies and responds to risky sign-ins. Organizations should also adopt phishing-resistant MFA methods, including FIDO2 security keys and certificate-based authentication, to further reduce exposure. 3. Identity Protection Access Reviews and Least Privilege Enforcement Conducting regular access reviews ensures that users retain only the permissions necessary for their roles. Applying least privilege principles and adopting Microsoft Zero Trust Architecture limits the potential for lateral movement in the event of a compromise. Microsoft Entra Access Reviews automates these processes, while Privileged Identity Management (PIM) provides just-in-time access and approval workflows for elevated roles. Just-in-Time Access and Risk-Based Controls Standing privileges should be minimized to reduce the attack surface. Risk-based conditional access policies can block high-risk sign-ins and enforce additional verification steps. Microsoft Entra ID Protection identifies risky behaviors and applies automated controls, while Conditional Access ensures access decisions are based on real-time risk assessments to block or challenge high-risk authentication attempts. Password Hygiene and Secure Authentication Promoting strong password practices and transitioning to passwordless authentication enhances security and user experience. Microsoft Authenticator supports multi-factor and passwordless sign-ins, while Windows Hello for Business enables biometric authentication using secure hardware-backed credentials. 4. Deploy SIEM and XDR for Detection and Response A robust detection and response capability is vital for identifying and mitigating threats across endpoints, identities, and cloud environments. Microsoft Sentinel serves as a cloud-native SIEM that aggregates and analyses security data, while Microsoft Defender XDR integrates signals from multiple sources to provide a unified view of threats and automate response actions. 5. Map and Harden Attack Paths Organizations should regularly assess their environments for attack paths such as privilege escalation and lateral movement. Tools like Microsoft Defender for Identity help uncover Lateral Movement Paths, while Microsoft Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) integrates identity signals with threat intelligence to automate response. These capabilities are accessible via the Microsoft Defender portal, which includes an attack path analysis feature for prioritizing multicloud risks. 6. Stay Current with Threat Actor TTPs Monitor the evolving tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) employed by sophisticated threat actors. Understanding these behaviours enables organizations to anticipate attacks and strengthen defenses proactively. Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence provides detailed profiles of threat actors and maps their activities to the MITRE ATT&CK framework. Complementing this, Microsoft Sentinel allows security teams to hunt for these TTPs across enterprise telemetry and correlate signals to detect emerging threats. 7. Build Organizational Awareness Organizations should train staff to identify phishing, impersonation, and deepfake threats. Simulated attacks help improve response readiness and reduce human error. Use Attack Simulation Training, in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to run realistic phishing scenarios and assess user vulnerability. Additionally, educate users about consent phishing, where attackers trick individuals into granting access to malicious apps. Conclusion The democratization of offensive security tooling, combined with the persistent failure to patch known vulnerabilities, has significantly lowered the barrier to entry for cyber attackers. Organizations must recognize that the tools used against them are often the same ones available to their own security teams. The key to resilience lies not in avoiding these tools, but in mastering them—using them to simulate attacks, identify weaknesses, and build a proactive defense. Cybersecurity is no longer a matter of if, but when. The question is: will you detect the attacker before they achieve their objective? Will you be able to stop them before reaching your most sensitive data? Additional read: Gartner Predicts 30% of Enterprises Will Consider Identity Verification and Authentication Solutions Unreliable in Isolation Due to AI-Generated Deepfakes by 2026 Cyber security breaches survey 2025 - GOV.UK Jasper Sleet: North Korean remote IT workers’ evolving tactics to infiltrate organizations | Microsoft Security Blog MOVEit Transfer vulnerability Solt Thypoon Scattered Spider SIM swaps Attackers exploiting new critical OpenMetadata vulnerabilities on Kubernetes clusters | Microsoft Security Blog Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management - Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management | Microsoft Learn Zero Trust Architecture | NIST tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) - Glossary | CSRC https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security/zero-trust/deploy/overview
