Microsoft introduces quarterly cyberthreat intelligence brief 'Cyber Signals'

The first edition of Cyber Signals unpacks identity, the most valuable digital asset that threat actors use to penetrate networks, steal credentials, and impersonate employees and consumers in the digital world.

Microsoft has introduced Cyber Signals, a new quarterly brief featuring research into the latest tactics, techniques, and strategies used by the world's most prolific threat actors, to strengthen the first line of defense.

The cyberthreat intelligence brief aggregates insights from Microsoft's research and security teams on the frontlines including analysis from the company's 24 trillion security signals.

"From IoT to nation-state activity, new ransomware tactics to insights into the cybercriminal economy, Cyber Signals provides trend analysis and practical guidance to strengthen the first line of digital defense. With increasing numbers of people working remotely and accessing their business apps and data from multiple locations, including home offices, coworking spaces, and other remote locations, individuals are realizing the importance of secure authentication," Vasu Jakkal, Corporate Vice President, Security, Compliance and Identity at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post on Thursday.

The first edition of Cyber Signals unpacks identity, the most valuable digital asset that threat actors use to penetrate networks, steal credentials, and impersonate employees and consumers in the digital world.

According to the brief, last year, Microsoft Azure Active Directory blocked over 25.6 billion attempts to hijack enterprise customer accounts by brute-forcing stolen passwords while Microsoft Defender for Office 365 blocked more than 35.7 billion phishing and other malicious e-mails targeting enterprise and consumer customers.