Microsoft's built-in security suite for Windows and enterprise networks, covering antivirus, endpoint detection and response, and threat hunting.
Microsoft has released Defender for the Linux desktop, available with Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5 and E7. Mixed fleets can manage Linux developer machines with Windows tooling, and TechSpot calls the product notorious for false positives.
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According to a GitHub issue on REA, a fake rea-tools repo offered a Windows exe that 8 of 45 VirusTotal engines flag, with 172 downloads. The copy shipped a binary and no npm package was reported, so the npx risk is a next-attack scenario; two checks on repo name and creation dates would have caught this one.
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Nightmare Eclipse, who dropped RoguePlanet in June and ShieldBreak in August, has published proof-of-concept code that reads any file with System privileges on fully patched Windows, inside the same month as Microsoft's September 3 fix.
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17 publishersReality
Microsoft will open Teams meetings to certified third-party deepfake detectors and add built-in impersonation warnings, both due in November. Deepfake coverage will depend on buying a certified outside detector.
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A researcher claims a 100% reliable bypass of the Malware Protection Engine fix for CVE-2026-50656 on Windows 11 25H2 and Server 2025. There is no second patch to apply.
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5 publishersReality
Microsoft shipped 22 updates, six of them scored 10.0, mostly in Entra ID, Exchange Online and Azure. Fixed server-side is not the same as verified in your tenant.
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ShieldCrash, a public proof of concept, reaches SYSTEM-level file reads on fully patched Windows hosts, defeating Microsoft's fix for CVE-2026-69414. Only arbitrary read has been shown, not code execution, and there is no confirmed exploitation in the wild.
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Huntress traced a RAT campaign that hides its first-stage lure in a ChatGPT Custom GPT on the real chatgpt.com, across at least 40 incidents. Because the page sits on a trusted domain, blocking the ClickFix PowerShell paste is the control that works.
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8 publishersReality
Roblox Account Manager's developer traced a Defender trojan verdict, from 1 of 75 VirusTotal engines, to the commit that added libsodium. Build-and-scan bisection found the dependency, though the developer can only hypothesise why the model objects to it.
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Microsoft says China-aligned NeedyMantis malware, active since at least October 2025, is installed after attackers already have access, to keep it long term. Because entry routes vary, organisations in the five sectors it targets need to look for copies already installed.
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Graz University of Technology researchers used file-change alerts to catch 95.7% of another Windows user's Firefox site visits from an unprivileged account. On shared hosts and on servers that run services under their own accounts, separation between users is weaker than the account model suggests.
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NCSC, FBI and AIVD say two Iranian spyware families report to per-victim Telegram bots and exfiltrate through Vultr, Storj and Backblaze B2. Networks already allow those services, so detection has to rely on host behaviour such as new Defender exclusions.
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Securelist says the newest CoolClient deploys a signed kernel-mode driver as a Windows service to hide its process, files and registry keys. It was seen in Pakistan, Mongolia and Myanmar.
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An affiliate entered through an MFA-less SonicWall VPN, then used Safe Mode with Networking to kill endpoint controls. The encryptor ran out of virtual memory instead of running.
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Microsoft has removed the legacy WMIC binary rather than deprecating it again. WMI itself stays, so admin scripts and detection content keyed to wmic.exe both need rework this cycle.
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Check Point's BTR Reforged turns a required Defender component into Ring 0 file and registry deletion on Windows 7 through 11 25H2. It cannot be blocklisted, so detection is the only lever left.
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Acronis says the operator borrowed a security vendor's own uninstall driver to shut down Defender on Cambodian machines, and the loader keeps three further ways to blind an agent if the kernel route fails.
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Chaotic Eclipse published working code that abuses Falcon's Office macro removal on fully patched Windows 11 25H2 and Server 2025. It is the fourth endpoint product the researcher has dropped exploit code for, and no CrowdStrike response is on record.
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5 publishersReality
Group-IB says the Iran-linked leak-and-brag front Handala Hack runs HEAVYGRAM, a Python implant that takes orders from a Telegram bot, opens the microphone and lifts saved passwords after a loader writes Defender exclusions for it.
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Abdelhamid Naceri published the tool over the weekend as the latest move in his dispute with Microsoft over his March 2025 termination, and said it needs only a standard user account on any supported Windows version.
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Build · September 15, 2026 · Confirmed2 publishers
Security · September 1, 2026 · Confirmed2 publishers