Microsoft Announces New Graph Powered Detection of hybrid attack Targeting Organizations

Microsoft has unveiled a groundbreaking advancement in cybersecurity with the integration of the Enterprise Exposure Graph into its threat detection and response capabilities.

This cutting-edge solution, part of Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Security Exposure Management (MSEM), is designed to combat the increasing sophistication of hybrid attacks that span on-premises and cloud environments.

Innovative Exposure Graph

As enterprises manage complex infrastructures across multiple realms, the interconnections between services, identities, and resources have become prime targets for threat actors.

This new graph-powered approach addresses critical blind spots in traditional security frameworks by providing contextual enrichment and enabling Security Operations Center (SOC) teams to detect and respond to multi-faceted threats with unprecedented precision.

The modern cybersecurity landscape is fraught with challenges as attackers exploit hybrid environments to execute destructive campaigns.

A typical scenario involves a threat actor compromising an on-premises device not joined to Entra ID through an N-day exploit and payload delivery.

By extracting an unexpired Entra session cookie from the device’s browser, the attacker performs credential theft and replays the cookie to bypass multifactor authentication (MFA), thereby pivoting to the cloud.

Bridging the Gap in Hybrid Threat Detection

If the compromised user holds a Global Administrator role, the attacker can escalate privileges within Azure, execute an “elevate access” operation, and gain control over all subscriptions, ultimately exfiltrating sensitive data for ransomware extortion or dark web sales.

Such attacks often evade detection due to the lack of shared context between on-premises and cloud realms, leaving SOC teams unable to correlate low-to-medium confidence signals into a cohesive attack chain.

According to the Report, Microsoft’s Enterprise Exposure Graph resolves this by mapping connections between devices, users, and secrets like session cookies, creating a unified view of potential attack paths.

By integrating this graph with XDR capabilities, Microsoft enables high-confidence detection through cross-realm signal correlation, consolidating device compromise, credential theft, and cloud operations into a single actionable incident.

This innovation is particularly significant for hybrid attack scenarios where traditional Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions fall short due to isolated contextual awareness.

The graph leverages secret scanning across both on-premises and cloud assets to surface relationships such as a device containing an Entra session cookie that can authenticate as a specific user allowing SOC teams to trace an attacker’s movement from initial foothold to cloud takeover.

The result is a comprehensive incident description that empowers organizations to respond swiftly and effectively, mitigating risks of data breaches and privilege escalation.

Microsoft’s latest enhancement underscores its commitment to exposure management, ensuring that enterprises can proactively surface and neutralize risks that traverse multiple layers of their infrastructure.

As hybrid threats continue to evolve, this graph-powered detection marks a pivotal step forward in safeguarding organizations against the intricate and destructive tactics of modern cybercriminals.

Find this News Interesting! Follow us on Google News, LinkedIn, and X to Get Instant Updates