Microsoft has published its 22nd bi-annual Security Intelligence Report (SIR), detailing the global trends in malicious behavior both on and offline. The report collects data from across Microsoft’s portfolio of services and software, and takes a broad look at emerging threats and mitigating efforts on the part of security researchers.
The Security Intelligence Report can be a valuable tool for those in the industry keeping track of the ever-changing nature of digital security measures. Published on the company’s security site, SIR volume 22 brings to light attacks against Microsoft Cloud infrastructure, Microsoft user accounts, and other targeted attacks over the first half of 2017.
Some of the highlights, according to the researchers who put this together, include the fact that user account attacks, those targeting credentials, have jumped by 300% compared to the same time last year. This signals a continuing trend towards generalized attacks against end-users, spurred on by “weak, guessable passwords and poor password management”. Third party breaches or leaks of credentials were also on the rise, with malicious actors taking advantage and hoovering up large troves of credentials, to be reused later.
More activity for MT. 
