Enhancing Collaboration Security with Microsoft Teams Message Summary

New Features to Protect Your Organization and Improve Security Operations

Introduction

The growing popularity of collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams has inevitably led to an increase in cyber threats targeting these platforms. While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has been providing protection in Microsoft Teams at the time of click, we are excited to announce the preview of enhancements to that protection, further securing users in Microsoft Teams and improving security operations flows. Note that this preview is only available to Microsoft Defender for Office P2 customers.

New Features in the Preview

1. Enhanced Visibility and Reporting

With the new functionality, end-users in Microsoft Teams can now report suspicious messages, allowing admins and security teams to gain better insight into potential threats. This enhances the visibility of the attack landscape and enables more proactive threat hunting.

        2.     Zero Hour Auto-Purge (ZAP) for Malicious Items

Building on the existing Safe Links protection, ZAP will now detect and neutralize malicious phishing, spam, or malware messages in Teams that have already been delivered, providing an extra layer of security for your organization. 

        3.    Quarantine and Security Operations Flows

Admins can review quarantined messages identified as malicious by ZAP and release them if deemed safe. This improves security operations flows, such as alerting, submissions, and quarantine management.

        4.    Microsoft Teams Message Entity Panel

The new Teams Message Entity Panel consolidates all message metadata in one location, enabling immediate SecOps review and allowing for faster response to threats from chats, group or meeting chats, and other channels.

        5.    Attack Simulation and Training

To increase user resilience against phishing attacks in Microsoft Teams, admins can now configure phishing simulations similar to those in email. This helps to build a stronger security culture within your organization.

Timeline and Availability

The public preview of these new features will start rolling out in late March and is expected to complete by mid-May. General availability is planned for late June 2023, with completion anticipated by late July 2023.

Conclusion

With the rise of collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, it's crucial to stay ahead of potential cyber threats. These new features, currently in preview for Microsoft Defender for Office P2 customers, will provide enhanced protection and improve security operations within your organization. By staying proactive and vigilant against cyber attacks, you can ensure a more secure collaboration environment for your users.