At DEF CON ( one of the largest and best-known hacker conferences in the world), the presentation was "Turning Microsoft's Login Page into Our Phishing Infrastructure." This revealed how attackers abuse legitimate Microsoft services to host phishing pages. In other words, cybercriminals are using the infrastructure of one of the world's most trusted platforms to trick unsuspecting users. This makes phishing campaigns almost indistinguishable from legitimate login pages.

Trust becomes the weapon of choice

The most worrisome aspect of this development is that trust is being abused. Microsoft is a brand globally associated with security and trustworthiness. When a user sees a login page that appears to come from an official Microsoft domain, chances are that they will log in without question. Attackers turn this trust into a weapon: your click thus becomes the access ticket.

Security measures are bypassed

Companies are investing heavily in security measures: sophisticated firewalls, spam filters, endpoint protection and Multi-Factor Authentication. But this new generation of phishing campaigns shows that even the most robust technologies can be bypassed. If the attack occurs through a legitimate channel such as Microsoft itself, many technical controls simply do not stand out. MFA can be abused by manipulating the user to approve rogue login attempts. The result: expensive investments in technology provide only false security as long as the human behind the screen is not alert.

Security Awareness: from optional to indispensable

This is precisely where Security Awareness comes in. It is not merely useful, but of unthinkable importance. Employees must understand that:

• Even trusted platforms can be abused .
• A legitimate-looking login page does not guarantee security.
• Security measures such as MFA and spam filters are not flawless
• Critical thinking and alert action are the last wall of defense.

Security Awareness must be more than an annual training session; it must be an ongoing culture of alertness and accountability. Every employee, regardless of role, must be aware that he or she is the first line of defense.

At Valid, we guide organizations from strategy to execution. We combine in-depth Microsoft knowledge with practical experience with clients from various sectors. Together, we build a security architecture that grows with your organization - and with the threats of tomorrow.

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This article was written by Ferry Braeken, Solutions Architect Security at Valid.