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cybersecurity (2)

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 settings panel beside a Payment Advice Note email with a password-protected ZIP file and a password shown as an image, illustrating Star Blizzard phishing checks for financial institutions

12 min read

Star Blizzard Phishing: What Banks, Credit Unions, and Lenders Should Check

In This Article What Star Blizzard changed in 2026 How a RedFlick phishing email works Four signs your staff can spot Seven Microsoft 365 and...

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Microsoft 365 hero image: three domain controllers connected to a Microsoft Defender for Identity shield linked to Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID, with the lines Sign-ins keep flowing, Domain controllers watched, Monitoring examiners expect

12 min read

Microsoft Defender for Identity: Protect the Domain Controllers Behind Every Login

In This Article Active Directory security starts with every staff sign-in What attackers do once they reach Active Directory What Microsoft Defender...

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Microsoft Azure illustration: an app identity passes a checkpoint to locked Storage, Key Vault, SQL Database and Backup vault tiles, with the headline Workloads keep running, Every app identity scoped, Recovery locked in

13 min read

Azure Service Principal Security: What Storm-3168 Deleted, and What Held

In This Article What Storm-3168 did inside one Azure tenant Why an Azure service principal is worth stealing What held, and why the attacker's roles...

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Service account security in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Entra ID: vendor payments, scanner, ticketing, and shared mailbox accounts, each locked with an owner assigned

14 min read

Service Account Security: The Forgotten Accounts a Password Spray Found

In This Article The service account security gap a password spray found Why forgotten accounts fall first Four kinds of forgotten account, and the...

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Calendar showing October 13, 2026 beside Windows 10, Office 2021, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 11 24H2 cards marked updates end, with the Microsoft 365 logo

13 min read

Microsoft End of Support October 2026: Windows 10 and Office

Microsoft end of support in October 2026 hits Windows 10 ESU Year 1, Office 2021, Windows Server 2012 R2. What banks, credit unions, and lenders do...

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Microsoft Entra Connect Sync bridge between Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID breaking at the September 30 2026 deadline, with sync engine and health agent version panels

11 min read

Entra Connect Sync Stops Sept 30: Check Both Versions

In This Article What stops on September 30, and what does not The alarms are on the same list The floor expires 23 days after the deadline What...

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Outlook shows an email with its appraisal PDF attachment blocked, beside Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access reporting a non-compliant device and Microsoft Intune showing the device out of compliance.

8 min read

Conditional Access Now Covers Outlook Attachments

Microsoft moved Outlook attachment operations behind a separate internal application, and the Conditional Access policies you already scoped to...

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A standard perimeter penetration test stops at the network edge while session token theft, mailbox forwarding and malicious app consent happen inside the Microsoft 365 tenant

14 min read

Microsoft 365 Penetration Testing for Financial Institutions

In This Article What a penetration test is, in your regulator's words What your regulator actually requires What Microsoft permits you to test The...

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Microsoft Power Pages admin panel showing Anonymous Access set to Allowed, with customer records flowing out of an open vault

11 min read

Power Pages Misconfiguration: No CVE, No Patch

Two financial regulators flagged a Microsoft Power Pages setting that exposes Dataverse records. No CVE, no patch, and your scanner will not see it.

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Microsoft 365 Exchange Online SMTP AUTH basic authentication deadline, December 2026, with legacy sender devices

13 min read

The Last Basic Authentication Deadline: SMTP AUTH Changes in December 2026

In This Article What actually changes at the end of December 2026 What in your institution still sends mail this way How to find every dependency...

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