Skip to main content

Microsoft is rolling out Teams phishing protection for all next month

The Microsoft Teams Communities features is now available for Microsoft 365 Personal and Family.
Microsoft

Microsoft alerted Microsoft 365 admins that the phishing alert features will reach all users by mid-February, as Bleeping Computer reports. The new feature will be enabled by default and alert users when an attack is detected.

However, you can only see the phishing attack alerts if you have external Teams access, a feature that allows users in your organization to talk to others who are not part of your organization. Even though the rollout started in mid-November, it has not reached all users, but Microsoft hopes to achieve that goal by mid-February. Microsoft also advises users to familiarize themselves with the new high-risk Accept/Block screen.

Recommended Videos

If you get the message, you must preview it and decide whether to accept it. If you accept it, Microsoft will send you another warning message reminding you of the possible risk before you accept it again. Admins can also access the audit log to view the detected phishing attacks that employ this technique.

Suppose you don’t have the phishing alert feature yet and don’t need to communicate with anyone outside your team. In that case, it’s recommended that you turn off the feature from the Microsoft Teams Admin Center, followed by External Access. But if you need to use the feature, admins can add certain domains to an allowed list to reduce the risk of exploitation. Time will tell when the feature will reach all users, but hopefully, it’ll be soon. But when that time comes, threat actors such as the Russian group who bombarded a user’s email box with thousands of emails before calling and posing as an IT support worker are going to have a hard time reaching their goal.

Microsoft Teams has taken other measures to keep its users safe, such as the Safe Links feature that protects users against malicious links. We’ll see what other features it decides to add to Teams.

Judy Sanhz
Judy Sanhz is a Digital Trends computing writer covering all computing news. Loves all operating systems and devices.
Copilot Wave 2: Here are all the new AI features to try out
Copilot Pages open in a graphic.

Microsoft has announced an update to Copilot, the company's all-in-one AI assistant. "Wave 2," as Microsoft calls it, is a series of updates that gives Copilot more capabilities within popular Office applications, Copilot agents for businesses, and even a new feature called Copilot Pages.

Let's start with Pages first. Microsoft calls it a "dynamic, persistent canvas" that's designed for "multiplayer" collaboration, built right into Copilot. Microsoft has been busy integrating Copilot into most every application imaginable, but think of Pages as a way of allowing you to get more done without having to ever leave Copilot itself.

Read more
The most common Microsoft Teams problems and how to fix them
A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Microsoft Teams was introduced in 2017 as a unified communication and collaboration platform aimed at helping businesses and organizations get things done. Microsoft leveraged the company's existing Office software experience and created a unified experience between Teams, Office 365, and Skype for Business. However, as with all software, things don't always go according to plan. If you're using Microsoft Teams, sometimes you can run into problems.

We're big Teams users here at Digital Trends -- it's our go-to communication and meeting tool -- and we've come across a few issues ourselves over the years. In the event you're having Microsoft Teams issues, here's how to fix some of the most common problems.

Read more
A forced Windows update is coming next month
Windows 11 logo on a laptop.

Windows 11 version 22H2 will reach its end of servicing next month, and Microsoft has announced a forced update to 23H2 for October 8. This means machines running 22H2 (Home and Pro editions) will stop receiving updates after next month, leaving them vulnerable to security threats. Enterprise, Education, and Internet of Things (IoT) Enterprise editions running version 21H2 will also receive the automatic update.

In a post on the Windows Message Center, Microsoft urges users to update before October 8 or participate in the automatic update to keep themselves "protected and productive" since the monthly Patch Tuesday updates are "critical to security and ecosystem health."

Read more